


The Erotomaniac's Cage

by ahunmaster, TheBigLoserQueen



Series: Ogre AU [29]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Death, Emotional Hurt, Explicit Sexual Content, Heavy Angst, Het, Human, Hurt, Kissing, Magic, Magic-Users, Mental Instability, Multi, Ogres, Original Character Death(s), Possession, Psychological Trauma, Rape, Rape Aftermath, Sexual Content, Size Difference, Trauma, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-04 23:42:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 55,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5352779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahunmaster/pseuds/ahunmaster, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBigLoserQueen/pseuds/TheBigLoserQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Megatron fears the worst when he learns that his precious wife and queen has been kidnapped by a mage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Queen was visiting another orphanage again. It had to have been the third one this week, but she never seemed to mind all the traveling. If anything, she actually seemed to enjoy it. Playing with the children, speaking with the orphanage workers and headmasters whenever she came around. And all the little ogre children and adults just flocked over to her, drawn in by the fact that she was a beautiful and kind human who clearly cared about the people.

Enek knew this well. Across the street and hiding in an alleyway behind crates and barrels, a woman hid in the shadows as she watched the beautiful queen stand next to her guard, conversing with one of the female workers as three children - most likely toddlers - were hanging around her, holding onto her dress. And as endearing as the queen was, Enek couldn't help but to glare at the guard standing next to her.

Lugnut. One of the king's most loyal followers, dirtying Eclipse's presence with his existence. Just the thought of that guard or anyone relating to the king made Enek's hands shake in rage. Disgusting, filthy lowlifes... They had ruined her and her mother. And now they were tainting a beautiful innocent woman like Queen Eclipse.

It should have been her at her side. Not that bastard guard... Or even the current king. He was a tyrant, ruthless and cruel and undeserving to be king. He may have not have been a fool like his father was, but that didn't make him a better ruler. She knew that from day one, from the day she and her mother had been exiled from the court. He accused her mother of manipulation and treason during his father's reign. That she used her magic to deceive everyone to benefit her own position.

Lies. Megatron just didn't like those who were magically gifted. Witches, he called her and her mother. Such a foul word. They were mages; they used magic to help. To benefit others. But the king called it as deceit. All because he didn't like what they could do. To him, only "normal" ogres were the good ones. Everyone else was inferior, beneath him.

Humans included. Why he had married a human was anyone's guess. His stupid followers and the uneducated masses claimed it was for love. But she knew that was idiotic thinking. Megatron didn't know how to love; he only knew how to conquer and destroy. And the queen... The poor, beautiful queen... She was no doubt forced to endure hardships. She probably left the castle as often as she did to get away from Megatron. If she couldn't run away, at least she could distance herself.

The poor girl. She was too good for this. Queen Eclipse was kind and lovely, caring for others that were not like her, that were beneath her in status. But she never treated anyone poorly. She was always respectful and treated everyone equally. Even to those who didn't deserve such kindness. Like her... husband.

It made Enek love her. Dearly. And all she wanted to do was protect her. Rescue her from this marriage, no doubt forced upon her. She had heard the rumors of how the wedding went. How after the traditional and shaming deflowering ceremony, she wept hard all night long. Feeling violated and disgusted with what she was put through, unable to turn to anyone for comfort...

The king was even more of a monster than Enek realized. And that meant she had to get the dear Queen away from her horrible King.

It was the only option she could successfully do. Enek had thought about killing the monster known as Megatron for a long time, but she knew that even with all her powers and will to see the ogre dead, she would never be able to do so. The tyrant had grown far too powerful since she was a child in court with her mother.  He had legions of soldiers to defend him, hundreds of spoiled, rich nobles kissing his feet, and dozens of close associates loyal to him who would die to protect him.

She could never get through all of them. One of them would stop her before she could put the blade into the tyrant's beating heart.

Even if she could attack him outside the castle, he had many of his best and strongest people around him to protect him from assassinations. Despite her carefully laid out traps and attempts, often done by manipulating others to take the fall for her, they were no match for his forces.

So with that said and done, Enek knew that since she couldn't get rid of the source of Queen Eclipse's horrible life, she could at least get her away from him. 

That fool thought he was so clever, keeping someone at the Queen's side constantly to ensure that she was never taken from him or that she would ever escape him.  But the Queen was kind and clever, having been able to trick her mad husband to let her go about the kingdom with less and less guards over the months Enek had been watching her.  What once used to be a battalion of guards had now been reduced to just the one.  Lugnut was still a tough ogre to defeat, a fierce loyalist who was even the tyrant's personal bodyguard.

She despised him.  How could any sane ogre be so loyal to such a monster? She wondered if the man stood by and watched the tyrant rape the Queen every night in their chambers, forcefully taking his right over and over.  The ogre had to be as sick and deprived as the king if he could stand by and let that happen night after night.

Perhaps it was why he was the only one Megatron kept by her side every time she left to escape him by traveling through the kingdom. If he found entertainment in watching the woman be raped every night, Lugnut would surely do everything to ensure that the object of his sick perversion didn't try to escape. And with his size and strength, no one would dare attempt a rescue of the poor Queen.

At least not until today.  Enek had thought long and hard about this rescue. She could not abandon the sweet Queen Eclipse to be raped and abused by Megatron for the rest of her life, no matter how short or long it would be.  But she had to be sure that Megatron would never find her.  If he got her back after a failed escape, he would never let Eclipse leave the castle ever again.  He would most definitely chain her up to his bed and only keep her fed and comfortable enough to satisfy his twisted, sadistic pleasures.

Enek would not let that happen. The plan she had would work. And not only would it get Eclipse away from that tyrant, but it would give her the means to kill the mad ogre should he dare try to take her back.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the queen bid farewell to the people at the orphanage. She watched as Lugnut helped the queen up onto her horse, the queen giving him a smile before turning back to the children and waving goodbye. They called after her, screaming and waving goodbye, begging her to come back and visit them again. A couple of the children were crying a bit, no doubt heartbroken that she had to leave.

Now was the time to move. She had to go act now; it was the perfect opportunity to execute her plan. Without anyone ever even noticing her, she slipped back into the darkness of the alleyway and headed out.

It was the time to strike.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you all right, Miss Eclipse?" 

She gave a small smile. "Yes, I promise. I was just a little hungry earlier."

After they had left the orphanage, Eclipse had asked Lugnut to stop by the bakery they were passing. She hadn't eaten much during lunch, not wanting to take any food away from the children. She would have plenty to eat when she got back to the castle, as she always did. She wanted the children to enjoy themselves, so she held back on eating too much. Besides, she had been busy chatting with the children, so she couldn't have her mouth full while she talking; that wasn't proper for a queen.

As usual, Lugnut worried about her when she had asked to stop so suddenly. And when she had bought some bread, he had thought that perhaps the meal had made her ill and she needed bread to calm down her stomach. It had been rather cute and it made her laugh. He was just like the king sometimes: far too worried about her and always thinking the worst.

But once she calmed him down, they had gotten on the road again and were slowly making their way back to the castle. She felt a little bad for Lugnut, since he was walking alongside the horse instead of riding it with her. She had offered to let him on the horse with her, but he declined; it wasn't proper of him to ride with her since she was the queen and he was not her husband. And when she had said she would walk beside him, he told her that it wouldn't be good for her. Or her dress.

Leave it to Lugnut to be more concerned about her wellbeing and image than her.

Eclipse quickly went over what else she had to do this week. No orphanages tomorrow, but she was going to go to one of the local schools and possibly visit one of the borders with Megatron. He was still debating on letting her come with him. And she was going to go visit a painter the following day. He had apparently painted a portrait of her in her honor, as embarrassing as that was. He wasn't even asked - he just did it because he wanted to. She felt honored, yes, but it still made her feel shy about the whole thing.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she turned her head, seeing a figure sit on the side of the road. Alone and wearing dirty clothes with no one else around. She perked up, a bit concerned. Why were they alone? And why did they look so tattered? Were they homeless? The less she knew, the more concerned she grew.

"Lugnut?"

"Yes, Miss Eclipse?"

She gestured to the person on the roadside. Lugnut followed her gaze to the woman on the side of the road and quickly readied his spear.

"Lugnut!"

"My Queen-"

"What are you doing?"

"Queen Eclipse, I must protect-"

"I know that!  I know you must protect me, but this isn't a threat!" She stopped the horse and effectively Lugnut in their path, "It is merely someone who is may need help!"

"My Queen..." Lugnut couldn't argue with her. She was such a kind human, always going out of her way to help those around her.  How many times he had to panic when she approached a homeless person or a person in need was giving him gray hair.  He knew it was her nature, but it made his job that much more difficult.

"Excuse me!" Eclipse turned to the woman sitting on the road.  "Ma'am? Are you alright?"

The woman looked up and her eyes seemed to widen when she looked to the Queen.

"Y-Your Majesty?"

"Are you all right, Ma'am?" Eclipse asked, moving her horse closer, despite the look on Lugnut's face. "What's wrong?"

"I-I don't... My Queen, forgive me-" Shakily, the woman tried to bow on her knees only to slip and slump over. 

"Ma'am?" Eclipse turned to Lugnut. "Lugnut, please help her."

"My Queen..." His mind was working so fast. His job was to protect her and his first enemies to protect her against were assassinations.  It used to be kidnappers, but those were now second to assassins. While he knew most of the population would never do anything to harm the Queen, there was no telling what nefarious or unstable person would do if they were within close range of the human.

If this woman was an assassin, they might kill him first before killing Queen Eclipse.  That wouldn't be too bad except that there was also the possibility of a partner.

Everyone knew that King Megatron often had his personal bodyguard leave his side to protect his beloved Queen. If any good assassin were making an attempt, they would know he was not a simple guard that could be dispatched easily. If this woman were such a strategic marksman, they might simple be the distraction while their partner took out the Queen.

And he didn't even want to get into the possibilities of a kidnapper and how they might get away with running off with the Queen while leaving him for dead. 

"Lugnut, please.  Just see if she needs help."

"...Yes, Queen Eclipse." The bodyguard slowly approached the woman, but stood a good few feet from her. "Are you hurt, ma’am?"

"I-I... I can't... my legs."

"Your legs hurt?  Can you walk?"

"No...no...no, walk no.  Crawl... Crawl, but no food."

So the woman had to crawl around. She must have crawled out here in the middle of the woods from food deprivation.  Lugnut pitied her, but there was little that could be done for her if she had been out here for this long. 

"Lugnut, can you help her up?"

"I do not think she is capable of walking, my Queen," he responded.

"Then..." Eclipse bit her lip. Surely they're had to be something they could do to assist the woman.  "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"... If we get to the castle, I can send soldiers to bring her to the infirmary."

Eclipse hesitated.  They were close to the castle and surely everyone, including her husband, would be concerned if she took too much longer to arrive. They were probably making dinner already...

But it just felt wrong to leave this woman here on her own.  What if an animal or a passing ogre attacked her?  What if she was dying and getting help would not be fast enough to save her?

"C-Could we not bring her with us?"

Lugnut hesitated in answering. Of course they could bring her with them, but... It wasn't wise. They had no idea who this woman was. Whether or not she was a spy or a potential assassin. He knew the queen would argue if he said no, but he needed to think about her safety. They did not know this person. She could be hostile and he didn't want to put his queen or potentially his king at risk.

"Milady, I-"

"Lugnut, please...? Just..."

She looked hurt, which only made him feel guilty. Damn it, he was looking more and more like a bastard for this. He felt bad for the woman, he truly did. She was probably starving and she couldn't walk. If they left her here alone much longer... She would probably die of starvation. And he didn't want Eclipse to hate herself for something like that. There was only so much she could do.

Damn it.

Giving a heavy huff, he moved closer to the woman. He glanced over at Eclipse, who was now smiling brightly. Well, at least she was happy... He would just have to keep a close eye on the woman, in case she wasn't who she said she was. If he had to die to protect the queen, he would. But not until he killed any assailant first. 

But just as he moved to lift the woman up, her hand came up and pressed hard against his face. He found himself frozen, unable to move, as a dark cloud came over his mind. His throat was paralyzed and his entire body felt numb... A tingle sensation ripped through his chest as he felt something crawl into his mind. A voice. And a hand. Gripping him hard, making him unable to move or to think. He tried to force it away, but the harder he fought, the stronger the grip became. His vision faded out and became fuzzy and glossed over.

What was happening? What was she doing?

But before his mind seemed to go blank, he saw her smile. Teeth white. Healthy. Primus, she was no pathetic uneducated homeless woman. She had only been pretending...

And just as he blanked out, Lugnut horribly realized he left his queen in danger.

Eclipse's eyes widened she saw Lugnut slump a bit to the floor. "Lugnut?" she called, sliding off her horse and coming closer to him. "Are you all right?"

He didn't respond, which only made her anxious. Had something happened? Was he sick? Or... Or did the woman actually do something? No, she had seen her. All the woman did was touch him. There was no sword or dagger or knife... She just touched him. Confused, she moved closer to the ogres, seeing that the woman was now patting his head and... smiling?

"Lugnut? Ma'am-?"

Her bodyguard suddenly turned and lunged at her, knocking her down to the ground. She almost screamed, but he slammed a hand over her mouth to quickly silence her.

Her horse shrieked at the sudden moved, jumping on its back legs in fright. It didn't know what to do, shrieking and neighing like a mad animal, just as frightened as the queen was. But unlike the queen, who was pinned by her guard, the horse took off down the path, still screaming and bucking crazily until it disappeared.

Eclipse eyes widened in horror as she looked up at him, paling when she saw his eyes. Primus, it was as if he were dead. There was no life in his eyes, wide and pupils dilated as he just stared down at her. Even his expression was blank. He was so lifeless...

And it terrified her. She struggled against him, trying to push him away and fight her way out of his grip. It was useless though; she was a weak human and Lugnut was one of Megatron's strongest men and his personal guard. There was no escape once he had her in his grasp, which only made her panic more. She didn’t even notice the woman slowly stand up and come towards them. 

"Do not worry, my dear Queen," the woman muttered as she kneeled down and caressed her face. "You will never be in danger again."

Eclipse didn't have the chance to even register the words before something white and fuzzy invaded her sight. She tried to fight it, but with Lugnut resisting her struggles and with no one to help her, she was powerless to do anything but let the white take over her mind.

The witch smiled as the Queen fell asleep before she reached down to fix her hair as her new puppet got up and stepped back.

"Good boy." She sarcastically spoke to the ogre she had full control over. This blind, loyalist pig had let the poor Queen suffer for all these years by letting her monster of a husband abuse her and keep her a prisoner in his castle.

But now he was hers.  She had worked hard on this spell for a few months to perfect it. She had even tested it out on some poacher that had stumbled upon her little home and had him her docile little puppet for months before she got rid of him.

With Lugnut, she was in better hands. She would be able to keep Eclipse safe with her in her home, but should that tyrant ever try to come after them, she had a warrior to fight him off with.  Possibly even kill him with should she decided to finally kill the monster who had ruined her life.

Now... there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Pick her up.  Gently.  We must make haste before your king comes to claim her again."

The silent giant of an ogre obeyed, kneeling down to pick up the Queen in a bride's hold, his hands keeping her head from rolling around.

And with that, the witch headed off into the woods with a solider and a Queen behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Nebula yawned loudly as she rolled her neck with a loud popping sound.  Primus, it was so damn late.  Just how long did it take to visit a few orphanages, kiss all the babies, and get a bloody Queen back here? She could already smell dinner and she had been here all afternoon with only a small lunch to keep her going.

Who she wouldn't kill for a bite of bacon or a warm cup of coffee.

"What the hell is taking them so long?" she grumbled.

"Beats me," Novabomb whined from the other side of the gate.  They and Bloodshed were watching the gate as the sun started to inch closer to the horizon. Queen Eclipse was usually back from her visits to the kingdom at this time, but there were times where she ran late.

The first time that had happened had nearly caused the king to send out search parties.  This turned into quite an affair when the Queen's caravan met up with the first scouts sent out, having been running late due to an extra stop that Queen Eclipse had insisted on.

So now more often than not, the guards waiting for the Queen and her entourage were told to expect the Queen at a certain time, but to not be surprised if she showed up a few hours late again.

And of course they would be stuck with that dreaded post out of all the days the Queen choose to visit another school or orphanage.

"Oh by the Primes... I'm so~ bored!" Novabomb groaned as he slumped over the box he had been sitting on for the past hour.  "Geez, how much longer do we gotta wait for the Queen?"

"I don't know, maybe you could ask those wild dogs you keep throwing stones at?"

Novabomb lifted his head up to blow a raspberry at her.

Bloodshed had to roll his eyes at the two of them. Leave it to them to act so childish when they weren’t even doing anything that important. He didn’t exactly care to wait out here for so long either, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Still, he did have to wonder where the Queen and her bodyguard were. Lugnut wasn’t the type to keep her out for too long, always insisting that they get back to the castle as soon as possible.

But in the middle of his two friends bickering, he heard something. The Captain of the Guard looked up, squinting his eyes to look out into the distance. He could still hear the sounds, but he couldn’t make them out since Novabomb and Nebula wouldn’t shut up. He would have dismissed it as him merely imaging things when he decided to keep looking out, spotting something slowly makes its way towards them. Disoriented steps, swaying from side to side. What was-?

“Isn’t that the queen’s horse?”

Bloodshed turned to the smaller ogre, who was now pointing at the approaching the figure. He looked back. Yes… That was her horse. Alone. Dazed. And haggard looking as it got closer.

But if the horse was here, where was the Queen?

Bloodshed quickly ran towards the creature. It gave a small whine, but it was too tired to run away from the ogre. Novabomb and Nebula quickly came up behind him as he steadied the horse, petting it to calm it down. The captain looked over the creature, trying to figure out what had happened. There didn’t seem to be any sign of a struggle… There was no blood on the horse and nothing had been torn from it.

He glanced out into the distance, hoping to maybe see Lugnut and the Queen following behind. But they weren’t. It was just a tired horse with no rider, no queen, no guard in site.

“We have to report this to King Megatron,” he ordered, turning to Novabomb. “Nebula, take the horse back its stable. I’m going to go look ahead.”

They both nodded, Nebula taking the horse while Novabomb took off back towards the castle. Bloodshed’s stomach felt heavy as he continued down the path. Something was wrong. He didn’t want there to be, but he knew. The Queen was missing. Along with Lugnut, the most loyal guard to the king. Something had to have happened; Lugnut would have had the horse carry Eclipse to safety than let her stay behind if a fight broke out.

But if the queen was not here… Where was she? Where was Lugnut? They had to find them. King Megatron would have their heads if they didn’t.

Maybe he should have sent Nebula to inform the king on what happened. Whatever, it was too late now. He just hoped his friend could explain it to the king and not get himself killed.

* * *

Megatron was bored. He was in his study, looking over some documents and papers as he waited for Eclipse to return so they could have dinner together. He would not eat without her, since some days, that was the only time they were able to spend together when they weren’t in their chambers. He enjoyed those moments. Besides, he could wait for his wife to come back before eating. He wasn’t a spoiled child. 

Shockwave was helping him with a few letters he had to write while Bombrush was just there annoying him. And since he had sent Lugnut to guard Eclipse while she went out visiting the masses, Strika was at the door standing guard. Though he supposed if both Shockwave and Bombrush were already here, he could have dismissed Strika and relieve her from her post for the day. It wasn't as if he were unaware that she was spending more time with a certain human doctor living on the premises...

"My Lord?"

Megatron snapped out of his thoughts. "What-?"

"My King, this contract still needs you signature for it to be authorized." Shockwave handed the paper back to him. "And you never wrote what needed to be changed for these two as well."

Bombrush looked over from the book he had been glancing through.  A chuckle escaped his lips as he watched Megatron look over half of what he had just given the other not even a few minutes before.

"Distracted, Megatron?"

The Ogre King didn't even bother to acknowledge the man who had been annoying him for the past hour, but he did roll his eyes.

"Oh come on.  We all know you're impatiently waiting for your dear wife to come home and join you for dinner."

"King Megatron knows that his wife is busy working on the crown's representation and that she sometimes arrives later than she's supposed to."

Bombrush rolled his eyes before returning the book to the shelf. "Still, he can't help but to worry about her.  She's out there with only Lugnut, greeting and talking to the people, visiting the children in the orphanages while he's stuck up here all day long signing paperwork like a sad lonely little househusband."

Megatron sighed.  He did not want to give Bombrush an excuse to keep badgering him like this. He just wanted to get stuff done before Eclipse came home.  He wanted nothing else to interrupt him once dinner was done for he and his wife would have much to catch up on in their chambers.

A lot to catch up on. 

"General Bombrush, perhaps it is best if you leave." Shockwave tried to get the situation back under control, "The King has had a long day and you are not helping in anyway."

"Oh lighten up, Shockwave, I'm only making the mood-"

"Hey, let me in!"

All three stopped to look at the door, which was quickly opened by the worried looking Strika.  A young blue-haired ogre walked in, gasping for breath.

"Novabomb?" Bombrush recognized his son's friend from the guards.  "What the hell?  You're supposed to be out front waiting for the Queen-!"

"The Queen's... hah... her horse came back, but there's... there's no sign of-"

"What?"

"Her Highness is- My Lord, wait!"

Megatron didn't listen to any of them. He had already bolted out the door and was rushing to the courtyard.  Luckily for him, there were already troops with horses preparing to leave.

"Split into two and cover the forest with half a mile increments.  If they're still out there with them, there's no telling how far they might have gotten. If they're hiding, flush them out!"

Nebula sent out another squadron before she turned to see the King advancing on her. She shouldn't have been surprised to see him as murderous as he was, but the fact that his gaze was on her made her tense.

"Oh shit…" she muttered under her breath, standing to attention quickly.

"Nebula." The dark voice had enough power behind it to kill her.  "What the hell is happening?  Where is my Queen?"

"M-My King, w-we can explain!" Novabomb had run up to join them, panting and breathing heavily.

"Look, Your Majesty, Bloodshed, Novabomb, and I were stationed at the front gate, waiting for the Queen and Lugnut to return. But all that showed up was her horse. No rider."

"Her horse?"

"Yes, sir.  Just her horse. It looked like it had been scared or something and ran all the way here without any of her riders."

"Queen Eclipse is missing?" Bombrush had managed to catch up at that point, Strika and Shockwave just behind him. "Where's her guard?"

"Is Lugnut alright?"

"I already told you - we don't know. We only saw the horse. Bloodshed ran up ahead to see if he could find them.  I got the horse back and called all troops to arms while Novabomb alerted you." 

The King couldn't feel his legs for a moment. His Queen. Eclipse. His precious wife... She was missing. Her horse had shown up at the front gates. But she was nowhere in sight. Neither was Lugnut. They were both missing. And no one even knew where to begin looking for them.

A millions different things ran through his mind. What had happened to her? An assassination attempt? An assault? Was she hurt? Dead? He didn't want to think about it, but that was all that went through his head. His precious queen. Defiled. Murdered. Because he wasn't with her. Because Lugnut hadn't been enough to protect her.

Had the human kingdom found out about her presence here? Did they know that she had become his wife? Her parents... They could have sent out a group of soldiers. Men eager for glory and pay from the human king and queen. His wife would be ripped away from him, married off to some human bastard who would hurt her...

He wanted to think that she was all right. That the horse freaked out and bucked her off before taking off. That she and Lugnut were slowly making their way back, Eclipse at the worst having suffered a sprained ankle. She had to be fine... She couldn't be...

He had to find her. He had to bring her back!

"Get my horse ready." 

Nebula blinked. "What-?"

"Have my horse ready. I have to find Eclipse-"

"My Lord, wait!"

Shockwave moved himself in front of the king, who just glared murderously at him. He knew what he was doing was foolish, considering Megatron was ready to explode in rage, but he had to think of his position! The advisor knew he was worried about his wife, but he was still the king. He had to be collective about this, even if it did involve his wife!

"Out of the way, Shockwave."

"Your Majesty, you have to remain here. If you go marching out the castle, the people will know something's wrong. And if they found out the Queen is missing, they will be thrown into panic-!"

"I don't give a damn about the public!" he snarled, throwing his hands up. "I will find my wife! Do not force me to move you!"

"Megatron, he has a point." Bombrush knew that now was not a good time for the king to be storming out of the castle. He wouldn't be able to deal with the panicking public and his wife missing all at once. "Just remain here. I'll send out more search parties and a few soldiers to the borders and have them closed."

"I will not sit by and do nothing will Eclipse is missing-!"

"If we can't find her by tomorrow, we will tell the public," Bombrush said sternly. They couldn't stir everyone up into a frenzy now, not if Eclipse and Lugnut were just taking their time on their walk back. It would look bad on the king. It seemed trivial, but that was what he had to deal with as king. He couldn't go charging out whenever he felt like it, not unless he wanted to be considered a poor ruler by the masses.

"You-!"

"Just give us a day, my Liege," Shockwave pleaded, bowing deeply. "Just one day. If she is not found, then... Then it'll be best if you address the people on the issue before going out to search for her."

His hands balled into fists. They just wanted him to sit around and do nothing? Like some helpless infant?! Damn it, this was his wife they were talking about! His human wife who couldn't defend herself... Even if Lugnut was there to protect her, a lot could go wrong if he was ganged up on by too many men. There was only so much he could do to protect her, even if he would give his life for her...

He hated his position in that moment. If he weren't king, he could rush out of here and look for her. Make sure she was all right, not hurt and safe and alive... But he was the king. And he still had to think about his position, even if it was nowhere near as important as the woman he loved and her safety.

"Increase border patrols," he ordered between clenched teeth. "Search everywhere, even land that isn't familiar or part of neutral territory. Shockwave, I want all of your spies’ ears and eyes opened. Nothing should get by them. Understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Now find my wife."

Bombrush, Shockwave, Novabomb, and Nebula all bowed to him before taking off to do as ordered. Strika could only watch her king shake with rage, a dark aura glowing off of him. She wasn't surprised, but she worried. Where was the queen? And Lugnut? The man would rather kill himself before he let her majesty be harmed. And he couldn't have fallen... Not after all the fighting he had done for so many years. A simple ambush shouldn't have overpowered him.

At least that is what she would have liked to believe.

"Strika."

"Y-Yes, My King?"

"Take me to my war room."

Strika's legs shook.  "M-My King, perhaps you should wait in your room."

"I will wait for news of my wife in the war room." Megatron coldly stated.  "If she has been taken on orders of her parents, then I will be ready to retaliate to get her back."

"But we don't even know what happened yet! Perhaps they just lost the horse and are lost!  At least eat something before-"

" _ENOUGH_!"

Strika's body froze in fear as the Ogre King's glare fell on her.

"Take me to my war room. I will eat dinner in there and I will stay there until I hear news of what happened to my wife. You are to join the search groups and look for my Queen."

"But-"

"That's an order."

"But you'll-"

"I can defend myself.  Besides-" His lip curled back in a look at rage and disgust, "If they took my wife to get an opening at me, let them come. I'll personally send them back to Unicron's spawning pit myself."

She was powerless to speak out anymore, only helplessly following him as he stormed into the castle while the troops marched out.

Primus, Father of All, please let Queen Eclipse and Lugnut be all right.


	4. Chapter 4

Eclipse felt exhausted. Her body felt heavy and her mind was still groggy. But she couldn’t force herself back to sleep, groaning and stretching her body in an attempt to wake herself up. It was hard though, since her vision was fuzzy and everything seemed so dark. Primus, what had happened?

She was lying on something… soft. Warm. Like a bed. When had she gotten back home? She certainly didn’t remember coming back to the castle. She didn’t even remember eating! The Queen let out a small moan as she forced herself to open her eyes, still tossing and turning on the sheets. Slowly but surely, her vision was coming to her and she could see she was in a neatly decorated bedroom. 

A bedroom that was not hers or one she had never seen before.

The realization was enough to make her panic a bit, sitting up in the bed as she looked around. She was definitely not in the castle. There were no white rooms like this. White walls decorated in beautiful, colorful landscape pictures and portraits of human women and cats. The sheets were silk and a light pink, the huge and abundant pillows the same shade. The canopy bed reminded her of the one back at home, huge and spacious with poles carved from the finest wood. The curtains were sheer and also white, much like the rest of the room.

She would have panicked and believed she had been dragged back home if it weren’t for the layout. While the room was large, the one back home at been much bigger. This room didn’t have a huge window or lead to any balconies. There was a vanity by the door and the only two windows – which were small – were barred. And against the wall furthest from the bed were only three large bookshelves. There was a closet next to another open door, where the bathroom was. No windows in there, from what she could see.

The bars were what unsettled her the most. Where was she? Why was she here? Primus, how did she even get here?!

All she could remember was traveling back to the castle with Lugnut. They had come across a woman in the middle of the road. She couldn’t walk and Eclipse had asked Lugnut to help her… Then Lugnut suddenly attacked her and then…

Wait. Where was the woman? And where was Lugnut? Was he all right? Had something happened to him?!

Eclipse got up from the bed to look for the man, only to be surprised when she saw that her shoes were missing and that the outfit she had been wearing before was not the one she was wearing now. Instead of the formal, long-sleeved summer gown she had been worn to the orphanage, she was wearing a thin short-sleeved dress that was meant more for a maid than a queen.

Where were her original things? Who had changed them and why?! As much as Eclipse wanted to panic, she knew she had to remain calm about this. She needed to assess the situation. At the current moment, she didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger. She was still alive, so whoever had brought her here was not attempting to kill her. For now.

But where was here? She moved over to the barred window, peeking outside. There was nothing but miles and miles of forest to greet here, which made her nervous. That didn’t tell her anything… except that whoever had brought her here clearly did not want her to leave and did not want her to be found. Why else would someone bring her here in the middle of nowhere and put bars in the windows? 

She forced herself to take a deep breath. No, she couldn’t panic now. Not yet. She had to wait to find out more about who had brought her here. Maybe gather more information about whoever it was. And potentially find out what happened to Lugnut.

The doorknob turned, causing her to jump and looked over at the door. As much as she wanted to run to the nearest bedpost and cling to it for protection, she needed to stand tall. She could not allow herself to be intimidated by this person. She was the Queen of the Ogres. Even if she was someone prisoner, she would have to make a stand. She had to prove herself worthy of respect, even as a captive.

She was not expecting to see an ogre woman to stand there, which made her falter a little. She looked so… harmless. Eclipse almost mistook her for a maid, but she wasn’t wearing maid clothes. But she wasn’t wearing anything regal or formal either. They were casual peasant clothes…

And it was the same woman they had seen on the side of the road. Just younger looking. She had been the one to bring her here? Or was she an accomplice to someone else’s scheme? Perhaps this was a midway house and she was going to be moved later.

She would worry about that later. Now, she needed to get her questions answered.

“Your Majesty.”

Eclipse was not prepared for the woman to bow, but she didn’t say anything on the matter, just watching her closely.

“How are you feeling? Would you like anything to eat?”

She was acting as if she had a guest over for dinner. It was unnerving and a bit confusing. Still, Eclipse took a deep breath and decided to approach this as delicately as possible.

“I’m fine and no, thank you.”

So far, the woman was treating her respectively. How quickly that would change though, she had no idea. But she wasn’t sure if she should just get straight to the point of her questions and play the part a little longer. She wished Shockwave were here; he always knew how to act in hostile situations, especially when there were a lot of unknowns factored in.

“Are you certain? You’ve been asleep for almost four hours. I’m sure you’re famished by now, Your Majesty.”

All right, yes, she was a little hungry, but the last thing Eclipse wanted to do was accept her offer and then find herself poisoned. Not that it would make much sense for this woman to do that. If she had wanted her dead, she would have killed her by now. Especially if she had already killed Lugnut… 

“No, I’m fine for now,” she said, taking a deep breath to collect her thoughts. “Where is my guard?”

“Oh, him.”

She didn’t seem concerned at all and simply gave a small sigh before shaking her head. For a moment, Eclipse feared that he had been murdered, her heart pounding in her chest. No, he couldn’t be. Not over something like this. If he had been… Primus, it would have been all her fault. She would have been responsible for his demise!

“Not to worry, my dear,” she said, stepping closer to her. “He’s restrained as of now. He can’t hurt you.” 

Her eyes widened. What was she talking about? Lugnut hurting her? He had never done such a thing! Her friend was always careful around her, practically treating her like glass. And he was restrained? What did that mean? Oh Primus, he wasn't hurt, was he?! She knew that the woman must have done something to him. Otherwise, he would be fighting tooth and nail to be by her side and protect her from... whoever this person was. 

"I... don't understand. What do you mean?"

"He can't harm you now anymore The ogre won't ever touch you again." 

Now Eclipse was very confused. When had Lugnut ever hurt her? Surely people didn't see it that way.

Unless... no, it couldn't be. 

"...My parents hired you, didn't they?"

The ogress titled her head, as if confused. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty?"

"My Father... the King... he didn't... he didn't hire you to bring me back, did he?"

"Your father?" Now the ogress really looked confused.  "I've never met the man before."

"No, you must have... someone else hired you. A middleman or some group out for the pay.  Did they promise you part of the reward for bringing me back?"

"Reward, I don't-"

"Please, whatever they offered you, I will pay double." Eclipse knew she didn't have any money or gold, but if this woman had been hired to snatch her and sneak her over the border, whether she was working alone or not or being forced to, she had to try to bargain with them.  "I know my father has probably offered a large reward for my safe return, but I can pay you more than what he or any middleman has offered.  I-I'll even pay you more for Lugnut."

"Pay me?  Why would you pay me?"

Eclipse felt a cold feeling travel down her throat. What was this woman implying? Was she not getting paid? Had she been threatened with a hostage? No, it didn't sound like a desperate person or someone who had everything to lose that money wouldn't fix.

No, this was someone who sounded like money didn't matter.  That... something else did. But that would only mean that she-

...Eclipse didn't want to believe that. She had to hope that the woman was only implying that she, the Queen, didn't have any money on her at the moment.

"I-I understand that I don't have money on me, but I assure you, if you release me and my guard and let us go, I can get you the money.  I could even help you get pardoned by King Megatron-"

"The King?" The ogress's hands twitched, balling into fists for a second before letting go.  "I do not need that ogre's pardon. A pardon from a tyrant like him would mean nothing to me. And I have done nothing wrong."

Tyrant?  What? What was this woman-?

"I-Tyrant?  Y-You mean m-my husband?"

"That monster shouldn't be allowed to call himself that," the woman growled.

Primus, she hated imagining it. The poor defenseless queen, being forced by that monster every night all because she was legally bond to him. And everyone loved and respected him so much that they never attempted to stop him. Never bothered to care about the queen because to them, she was just the king's pretty little toy. A pretty little toy he could use and abuse until she broke and then he would throw her away to make room for someone new.

But she calmed herself. Queen Eclipse was safe now. She never had to worry about that bastard hurting her again. And if he ever did manage to find them, she would be fine. She still had control on the Ogre and with him chained down in the basement, there was no chance of him escaping. When she needed to use him, she would control him again and he could fight anyone who dared to take Eclipse away from her.

She turned back to the queen with a gentler smile. "My apologies, Your Majesty, I won't bring him up again."

Eclipse didn't know how to respond to that, even more confused and frightened by what was being said. Her husband a tyrant? She knew that of course not everyone would agree with his views, but he was still a fair king, though harsh in tone... Was she part of a dissenting organization?

"W-Who are you?"

"Oh, yes, forgive me." How rude of her. She didn't even give her name! "I'm Enek, a mage. My mother used to serve under the king's father before King Megatron unrightfully banished us."

Oh no.  She knew some about Megatron's father if only a little, but she knew that he wasn't seen that well by the people of the castle.  Outside, she wasn't sure.  All she knew from Shockwave and Lugnut and the others was that the ogre had been a coward and not a very good ruler.  But from what this ogress was saying, it seemed like there were some people who viewed him in a better light than Megatron's people.

"I'm... sorry to hear that."

"Yes, well, that was long ago." Enek's disturbing calm demeanor remained as she walked up to Eclipse, stopping just before her.  "What matters is that you are safe now and none of them will ever hurt you again."

Eclipse swallowed back a gulp. She had no idea what the ogress's motives were, but as it was, she could do little to try and get out now. As it was, she had no idea where she was, where exactly Lugnut was, or if this woman had any partners who were helping her.

If she were to get herself and Lugnut out of here, she would have to learn more.

"I see." She dared not say anymore.

"Now, is there anything I can get for you, Your Majesty?"

"...I'm fine for now."

"Are you sure?  Would you like me to draw you a bath? Or perhaps better clothes? I'm sorry, but this was all I had that fit you when I had to get that atrocious dress off of you.  It was so restrictive that I thought you had stopped breathing when I was bringing you back!"

"This... no, no, I'm just fine. The dress... it is comfortable."

"Very well.  I'll be back in a while to bring you a pitcher of water. If you need anything, just tell me then." And with a slight bow, the woman left the room.

Eclipse kept her distance, not trying to follow after her.  She didn't want to agitate her captor, not after what happened when she had mentioned her husband.

Speaking of her husband, he had to be freaking out by now.  She knew the horse had run off, so at the very least, someone would find it running around if they sent out someone to look for them. If she was lucky, the horse ran back to the castle and there were already search parties out looking for them.

But the ogress... Enek, she had kept saying that no one would hurt her anymore.  And with what she could see outside, they must have been deep in the woods. So if she wasn't hired by her parents or another group to bring her back to the human kingdom, then this woman took her for herself.  And it was to protect her.

With the knowledge of her mother having worked for the previous king and her obvious dislike of King Megatron, Enek must have taken her to get back at him.  Though why she kept insisting that she was safe and wouldn't be hurt anymore still puzzled her.  She hoped she wasn't mentally ill; Eclipse didn't know if she could reason with such a person to let her or at least Lugnut go.

And Primus... what had she done to Lugnut? She said he was restrained, but what did that mean?  Eclipse walked over to the windows and looked outside again.  She couldn't see him and it didn't appear there were any other buildings from where she was looking.  So he was somewhere in the house with them.

But why would Enek have him restrained if she thought he was someone who had hurt her?  Wouldn't she have simple left him behind or killed him?  Unless the ogress needed him for something else. But what?

Eclipse bit her lip as she tried to make sense of all this new information.  Even with all of that, all she knew was that she was the captive of an ogress who hated her husband and thought his bodyguard hurt her and that she was in a place she had never seen before with no visible landmarks to go off of. She needed more if she hoped to figure out any sort of plan to escape and whether she would have to go on her own or take Lugnut with her.

She hated thinking of that last part. Her mind told her that if there was a chance to escape that she should take it even if it meant leaving Lugnut behind. She was the Queen, she could escape faster by herself than with a possibly injured man, and Lugnut was trained to put his life on the line to protect his charge.  He himself would tell her the same, that he would not be angry if she left him to get to safety while leaving him here to die.

But she knew that her heart would never go through with it.  Even if it meant her escape, she couldn't leave if it meant Lugnut would be killed as a result of it.  Enek hadn't killed him yet, so she had to have a reason for keeping him around locked up like an animal. But she didn't know what and she also didn't know if the ogress would still keep him alive if she was gone.

The only way she would escape on her own is if there was a way to get help to save Lugnut in time.

The Queen only sighed depressed as she moved to sit on the bed.  She needed to find a way out. Someway that could help her and Lugnut out.

But as it was, she had nothing that could.


	5. Chapter 5

Lugnut's mouth was dry.  He tried to breath only to taste something foul.

Primus, what the hell?  What smelled like a dead horse that was thrown into spoiled wine that he could taste in the air?  And where was-?

His mind snapped out of it when he realized he was out of armor and chained up.

The ogre tried to get up only to find his limbs not working.  Shit. Poison?  Sleeping gas?  He could still move, but just not very much at the moment. At least he knew he wasn't paralyzed.

He couldn't stay like this.  He had to find... shit, where was Queen Eclipse? He remembered trying to help out the woman on the side of the road and then everything faded away after that. Why couldn't he remember what had happened?

Before he could try to discern what else was going on, a door opened up somewhere.

He couldn't see much except for the light that the opened door was letting in.  Blinking, he tried to see who was coming down when suddenly a fire appeared in a lantern hung up on the wall.

Lugnut lurched back before groaning loudly. Not only did the light hurt his yes, but how in the name of the Pit did that fire appear?

"Awake?"

The voice was harsh, unpleasant. It made his eyes narrow when he heard wood creak, making him turn his head to the left. Stairs. And someone was coming down them. A woman, if the voice was anything to go by.

And when she came into the light, he gritted his teeth and glared murderously at her.

His head may have still hurt and he probably wasn't at his hundred percent best, but he remembered what happened before he had gotten here. She was the woman on the side of the road. Pretending to be a helpless little dumb woman, preying upon Eclipse's kind nature... This bitch knew the queen would want to help someone if they appeared to be in need. Everyone knew of the Queen's selflessness. And anyone smart and low enough would take advantage of it.

He had to figure the queen was still alive. And while he was relieved to figure her not dead, he couldn't relax just yet. He still had no idea where she was or if she was safe. What had this woman done with her? He couldn't remember what had happened after she had put him to sleep...

His eyes looked to the lit torch. He may have not have been as smart as Shockwave or as sharp as Bombrush, but Lugnut wasn't a fool. He could put two and two together if he had to focus. And even in his hazing mindset, he could figure that this ogress wasn't just some peasant.

She was a witch.

"I was wondering when you would wake up," she said nonchalantly. "You were out of it longer than I had anticipated."

She was carrying a water pitcher and a bowl of what looked like grub as she walked towards him. The closer she got, the better he could see the grub. Primus, it was something you fed to pigs or the lowest, most worthless prisoners. He prayed Eclipse was not being forced into the same conditions as he was. If this bitch dared to have the queen suffer in such a way, he would rip her heart out of her chest and force it down her throat.

"How are you feeling, dearie?" The tone was as condescending as he had expected. "You certainly exhausted me more than I anticipated. Your mind is a lot harder to control during long periods of times, especially since you fight back so much."

So that was what had happened. He should have figured that if she was a witch, she would have ways and spells that would put him under her control. Did she force him to do anything to Eclipse? He loathed that he couldn't remember anything once his mind went blank... But at least now he understood why he was so mentally exhausted.

His eyes darted around the room. No windows. Only one door up the staircase. A few torches and he was chained to the wall. Steel chains. She knew he was a strong man and iron wouldn't do her any good. He would have been impressed if he wasn't so ready to rip her throat out.

"Where is she?"

"Be more specific, dearie-"

"The Queen!" he shouted, not caring that it made him nauseous. "What have you done with the Queen?!"

The ogress just glared at him narrowed eyes for a few moments as he tried to keep himself from throwing up. He panted hard and took deep breath to keep himself under control. Primus, being controlled took a lot of mental and physical strength out of him... But he had recalled fighting the entire time, trying to wrestle the conscience trying to overpower his own. He had lost, but she eventually grew too mentally weak to keep him enslaved.

If she hadn't, he would probably still be a mindless zombie at this point. She would have no reason to chain him up if she knew she had complete control over him.

As if he would ever allow someone to control his mind completely. He had undergone years of special training to make him not only the most physically fit to protect the king and queen, but also mentally. He was made not to crack so easily. To fight whatever tried to get into his mind. Though he had not dealt with any witches or mages before, his mental training was still strong. And the witch clearly hadn't been prepared.

She finally gave a small huff. "Her Majesty is well and currently resting in her room."

"Where is she-?!"

"If you truly believe I made her reside in the same conditions as you, you're quite mistaken." She sounded offended and disgusted by the thought of it. "You are beneath her and scum. She is my beloved queen. To think you would even be given the same level of treatment is insulting."

At least he could rest easier knowing that Eclipse wasn't also changed up to the wall like some sort of animal. But the word she used... Beloved. Beloved Queen. It didn't sit right with him. Anxiety swelled up in his chest and his hands balled into fists. It was obvious he was despised and the feeling was mutual, but the Queen... What did she want with the queen?

"Your intentions for the queen are not torture, I assume."

She threw the grub on his face, glaring at him mercilessly, face bright red and hands shaking. "I am not like your monstrous king, you filthy ape! I would never hurt the queen in such a manner!"

He kept his temper under control as the gruel slide off his face onto his legs.  Hurt the queen, monstrous king... So the Queen wasn't in danger. But what she said about King Megatron had his mind buzzing and it wasn't from the aftereffects of being controlled by a witch.

"You dare accuse our king of such atrocities?"

"Your king is nothing more than a beast that killed his own father and took over like the tyrant he is.  He may have fooled the people into thinking that he's a great and powerful king, but I know.  I know the truth!"

Shit, this wasn't good.  Lugnut knew that Megatron's father had done a shitty job keeping the kingdom together during his rule, but the only people that had been overly loyal to him were greedy noblemen that Megatron had either punished or exiled, old conservatives who had died out, or madmen.  He had been there when Megatron had overthrown his father; the court back then wasn't a good one.

But he couldn't recall ever seeing a witch. Megatron had taken care of that court rather quickly and it had been long ago.  Still, it was hard to say.  If this ogress was a witch, then she may have changed her appearance since then. She looked young for having been around to recall the overthrowing of King Megatron's father, but he couldn't remember if his King had punished any kids let alone a witch.

"So you say..." He baited her. He needed to figure out what was going on.

"Don't try to lie your way out of this one. I was there. I was there the day your mad King burst into the throne room with an army and took over.  I saw him rip the crown from King Galvatron's head and had our King dragged off to the dungeons!  And then he turned his sword to the court and punished all who did not declare loyalty to him. He even killed those who swore him fealty!  Who-Who begged for mercy!"

Well, there was no denying that she had been there. His King and Lord Shockwave had taken careful steps to get out to the public what exactly had happened that day he took over the throne from his father.  It wouldn't have done well to let the public know that they struck down men and women who begged for mercy.

But it wasn't like he had a choice. Lugnut knew that King Megatron had to make an example out of some of them to curb the others into loyalty. Many of the court had done nothing but let King Galvatron ruin their kingdom and those whom his King had killed were the ones who encouraged it to happen to strengthen their own houses and pockets.  There was no telling if they wouldn't backstab King Megatron if someone or Galvatron himself managed to earn support for a coup.

He knew she didn’t want to hear such things though. She would no doubt throw the water pitcher at his head next and he could only go so long without water.

“What do you plan to do?” he demanded.

“To protect the queen,” she said. “But I know what you really mean. To be honest, I hate you.”

As if that wasn’t remotely obvious.

“But even though I would rather just dispose of you, I know you’re useful to me. For now anyway.”

He wasn’t sure how he would be, but whatever her reasoning is, it gave him a chance to figure her out. Maybe even find a way out of here. Then he could rescue the queen and at least get her to safety. If the witch’s only goal was to “protect” Eclipse, whatever that meant, then perhaps she had more freedom to roam around. He prayed that were the case. Maybe she would find an escape route first. 

Lugnut prayed she would take it though. He knew she wouldn’t, but he prayed anyway. His life didn’t matter. She needed to escape, get back to Megatron’s side… he had already failed to protect her in the first place. And because he hadn’t been sterner with the queen… they were both trapped here until Primus knew when.

She came over to him with the pitcher in hand. “Tilt back your head and open your mouth.”

As much as he wanted to spit on her for treating him like some sort of animal, he did as she ordered. He had to keep himself alive. For Eclipse’s sake. She would blame herself if something happened to him. And he needed to get her out of here. So for now, he would act like a dog and keep this woman happy. Just so that she had reason to keep him alive and able.

Then, once he had figured out just how to handle her, he would break out and kill her. Then he would bring Eclipse back to the king, safe and sound. He just had to be patient.


	6. Chapter 6

The King couldn’t eat. As he sat in his war room, a guard standing attention at the door with his subjects coming in and out, reports being handed to him every now and then, he couldn’t bring himself the plate of food he had been given to him three hours ago. It was now just sitting there, cold and almost untouched. 

As if he could eat at a time like this. After three hours… His wife had still not been found. Eclipse was still missing and no one had spotted Lugnut either. There was no trail of blood, no scraps of fabric lying about, no bodies…

He had to believe she was still alive. If it were some sort of assassination, the ones who ordered it would have been boasting about it and Eclipse’s corpse would have been left somewhere to be easily found. So the fact that they hadn’t come across that at least meant that she was alive.

That didn’t make his nerves settle. She was still missing. Primus only knew where she had been taken. Was it her parents? Another ogre kingdom? Or just some random group, an organization or some sort of cult? Megatron had plenty of enemies, despite his number of allies. The best case-scenario of her being kidnapped was that her parents were trying to sneak her back into their kingdom. He had stolen her once, he would do it again. Though albeit more violently this time around.

But if it was an opposing kingdom, like King Nemesis… He feared the worst. That madman only had a few allies and was widely hated by even his own people, but that didn’t mean the bastard didn’t have influence. He could have sent people in to kidnap Eclipse, to torture her just to get back at him…

He forced himself not to think such things. He would go mad if he thought such horrific things happening to his wife. As much as he wanted to charge out there and find her, he had to remain rational about this. Keeping calm wouldn’t work since he was ready to kick over a chair any moment now.

Megatron did have the one irrational thought about perhaps Lugnut had done something to her. It had been strange that his body was nowhere to be found either. If Eclipse was being targeted, Lugnut would have been killed first. He was not important, at least not compared to the queen. So why hadn’t anyone found him yet either?

He quickly dismissed the idea of Lugnut being behind this. It was a ridiculous notion. Lugnut had been loyal to him for years. Even when he had befriended Eclipse when she was just a human princess, Lugnut had told him he wanted to continue his friendship with her. And if Megatron had told him no, the ogre would have stopped. Even now, despite his feelings for Eclipse, Lugnut had never betrayed him.

Megatron rubbed his eyes. Damn it, where were they?! He loathed not knowing anything, just sitting around like some damn fool…

Was Eclipse, at the very least, all right? He could imagine her terrified and scared, but… Was she at least being left alone somewhere? Not being harassed and hurt by anyone? Just… It was awful he wished such a thing for his wife, but he could only hope that maybe she was just stuck in a room somewhere, not being bothered. Maybe just being held for ransom. Nothing more than that.

The door opened, Shockwave coming into the room. Megatron straightened up in his seat.

“Anything to report?”

“There has been no suspicious activity reported at the Southern or Eastern borders, my Lord,” he said, looking at his sheets. “My spies have not found anything along the path she was supposed to have taken.”

His hands clenched into fists. Damn it, why was he just sitting here? He should have been out there, searching with his men. Eclipse was his wife! His precious, beautiful wife and she was out there somewhere, probably afraid and terrified and not being able to do anything but wait for someone to come rescue her…

He slammed his fists onto the table, startling his advisor and the guards station in the room.

“Your Majesty–”

“I shouldn’t just be sitting here!” he snarled. “I should be out there with my men! Looking for Eclipse myself!”

"I understand your Majesty, but-"

"Like the pit you do!" Megatron grabbed the plate of cold food in front of him and threw it at the ogre, "Like hell you've ever had a wife or someone you loved stolen away and you've had to be forced to stay behind hoping that someone else finds them!"

Shockwave didn't move, which was lucky on his part since the plate missed him even though the food did hit him in the face. But he didn't move to wipe the gravy from his cheek.

His King was in a very unstable mood. His wife was missing, disappeared without a trace, and the mysterious circumstances behind her and Lugnut missing weren't making sense.  They had no target, no obvious suspect, no means of figuring out a way to save them, let alone find them.  Megatron had nothing to turn his boiling bloodlust towards and Shockwave didn't want to be the one to push him over the edge.

He had to be careful with what words came out of his mouth. They could very well be his last.

"... Bloodshed and his group have yet to report in."  He waited for Megatron's reaction, but continued where there was a lack of one. "He was the first to go out searching for the Queen, so this may be a good sign."

"...You call a late report a good sign, Shockwave?"

"Bloodshed may have found something, thus the delay. If he's found anything, the best course would be to stick with it before it went cold."

Megatron let out a heavy huff, but did sit down back in his seat. That was a fair point. If Bloodshed had found something, he had to follow it.  Follow it quickly before he lost it.  It might have been the only thing they had to finding her.

Seeing his king merely calm down and brood on the issue, Shockwave knew it was time to dismiss himself. And hopefully get the food on his face cleaned up and have something else be brought down for Megatron to eat. The ogre couldn't starve himself. The Queen wouldn't forgive him.

"I'll return once I receive their report."

"... Fine."

Shockwave gave a deep bow and left the king to himself again. Primus, they had to find Eclipse. The entire kingdom would be in an uproar once it was stated she had been kidnapped. And the king would go mad if she wasn't found. But she had to be somewhere in the ogre kingdom. If not there, perhaps in neutral territory? It seemed highly improbable that she had been smuggled out into another kingdom. They would have found Lugnut's corpse if that were the case.

At least he hoped that wasn't what had happened. It was frustrating not knowing, even with his web of spies. Shockwave just had to hope that Bloodshed's report, when it got there, would lead to something. 

* * *

Bloodshed wasn't sure what Novabomb was doing, but he trusted the man. Once he and Nebula had done what he had ordered, they had followed him out and help scout his assigned area for the Queen and Lugnut. They were along a dirt road, searching along the forest and woodland area for any sort of sign that she had been taken around the area. Bloodshed and Nebula didn't see anything and were ready to give up and send the report to Shockwave.

Until Novabomb said something seemed off and he wanted to keep looking.

Nebula had told him to give up, but Bloodshed decided to let the man be for now. As crazy as the ogre could be, he knew there were times when it wasn't good to fuck around. He wouldn't fuck around in a situation like this. So he just followed the man as he slowly tipped-toed down the road, peering down into the grass carefully, as if searching for something.

"What're you even looking for?" Nebula demanded, growing frustrated. "We're not gonna find anything. We looked all over!"

"No," he said, surprisingly stern. "I... I know something's not right here. I can feel it."

"It's just the mage in you messing with your head."

"Nebula, knock it off."

She just rolled her eyes and leaned against a tree, now becoming impatient.

Other reason why Bloodshed had let Novabomb wander a bit. His mother had been a mage, so there was some magic swirling around in him somewhere. The reason he said he was crazy, something Bloodshed didn't know was actually true or not. But because of that, the ogre could sense and notice things everyone else might have overlooked. He couldn't perform or cast any of his own spells, but he could sense when magic had been used.

According to him, when people used magic, it left a spot on the floor that only other mages could see. He said it was like a water stain that lasted for about a day or two before slowly disappearing. So Bloodshed had to assume he was looking for this magic spot.

Not that he knew what that meant for their missing Queen, but the guard captain was willing to chance it.

"Besides, why would there be a mage anywhere near here?  Everyone knows the King's attitude about them, so why would there be one this close to the castle?"

"A mage would be helpful if someone wanted to get a head start after kidnapping the Queen of the Ogre Kingdom," Bloodshed pointed out.

"It would?"

"Yeah," Novabomb answered softly as he squinted again at a bush. "My mom told me about some the things mages can do with their magic.  She says there is some magic that can make you hide things from others."

"Like what, so that people can't see it?"

"No, that's very strong stuff and she said that's very hard to do.  No, this one was how to keep people from seeing something.  Like, sometimes you're looking at something but you don't see it cause you just don't see.  That's what this magic was, Mom said, you could make so people couldn't see what you didn't want them to see."

The other two guards just stared at him for a few moments confused.

Finally, Nebula just said, "What?"

"You know, there's something there, but you don't see it.  You kinda-" he turned his arm back to wave it back and forth.

"Are you high? What the fuck are you talking about?"

Novabomb groaned before turning back to Nebula with a glare. "You know!  Come on, you've done it before!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Remember when you couldn't find your navel piercing after you took it out that one time?  You were looking for a whole hour for it and then you got us to search for it and then it turned out to be on top of your armor all along?"

"The hell does that have to do with that?"

"Wait..." Bloodshed got up and walked over to Novabomb. "Wait, you mean... like it's there, but you just don't see it?"

"Well, duh."

"Bloodshed, what are you-?"

"We pointed it out to you, your piercing. You couldn't see it on your own armor, didn't even know it was there even as you looked over it dozens of times. Novabomb literally had to guide you to let you see it." The ogre captain turned back to Nebula. "What if the kidnapper was doing something similar?"

Nebula didn't reply, thinking it over. 

"If Novabomb's hunch is correct, then a mage was or is involved with Queen Eclipse's and Lugnut's disappearance. And for no one to have found anything leading to the spot where she might have been taken..." He turned back to the blue haired ogre. "So you think a mage really took them?"

He shrugged. "It would make the most sense. You guys wouldn't know what to look for if a mage did it. But I do. And..." He turned around, kneeling down in the grass and spreading it out. He grabbed a patch of dirt and held it out to them. "Notice anything different?"

Both Bloodshed and Nebula squinted hard at the dirt clump in his hands. At first, no, it just looked like dirt. They glanced at Novabomb, who waited patiently for them spot it. So they looked back again and peered harder.

And, though very faint, they could see dark blue specs in the dirt. Not natural to the soil at all. Which had to mean-

"To me, it's as blue as my hair." He gestured to the brightly colored mess on his head. "But that's because I've got mage blood."

"Then-!"

Novabomb pulled something else up from the ground, holding it between his fingers. Not dirt, not grass, not blue magic.

It was Eclipse's wedding ring.

"Oh shit-"

"We found her."

"Or her ring at least!" Novabomb beamed before handing it over to Bloodshed.

"Nebula, would you-?"

"I've had enough of this weird magic bullshit, so yes, I'll take the ring back and go tell them we found something." Nebula grabbed the ring and started to head back, "Just find who did this and kick their ass once you find her, alright?"

"Hopefully.  Send a patrol to meet up with us.  Don't get the dogs yet.  Whatever trail Nova's found can't be disturbed by anything until we get a better path to follow.

"Got it."

Bloodshed watched Nebula run back. It had been at least a few hours since the horse had come back and there was no telling how long the Queen's horse had been running around spooked before they found it. Still, if this mage thought their magic would hide their trail, they may have thought to not cover their tracks after some distance.

Taking a deep breath, Bloodshed turned back to find Novabomb crawling along the floor. "Novabomb, we need to-"

"I know, I know, but the magic's very faint. I think it’s wearing off."

"Then we'll be able to follow their trail once it wears off?"

"No, we won't have a trail anymore." Novabomb pressed his face into the ground to look at something. "The stupid mage used magic to cover their entire trail, so if it fades, we won't be able to follow them."

"But surely they had to leave footprints or something?  The Queen, yes, but there's no way they took Lugnut away without leaving some kind of drag mark or something."

"Sorry, but this magic is good. Whoever it was must have used it return it back to normal after they came through."

"Shit," Bloodshed followed after Novabomb as he crawled quickly through some bushes, "They couldn't have used it for long, could they?"

"I don't know, but this magic must have been very powerful.  Don't take my word for it, but if it was that strong, they wouldn't have been able to use it for long."

Bloodshed looked back.  Shit, maybe he should have sent for the dogs as well. If the trail was lost, they would have to rely on whatever was left to find her.

"Bloodshed?"

"...Don't lose the trail. If it's all we have that will find the Queen, we must not lose it."

"Yes sir!" Novabomb saluted on his knees before bending back down to look for it.

Bloodshed, thought awkwardly, followed after his mage friend.

Primus, don't let this lead slip out away from them. There was no telling what would happen if they lost all traces of the Queen's trail.

He feared what would become of their King if all hope of ever bringing his Queen Eclipse back failed.


	7. Chapter 7

The ogress had returned later that evening to ask her again if she was hungry. And as much as she didn't really want to eat anything the woman offered, Eclipse had to keep up her strength. The woman didn't seem to have any intentions in hurting her, so the food had to have been safe to eat. 

She wasn't expecting Enek to escort her out of the room and down the stairs to a dining room. Eclipse thought she was supposed to be a prisoner. Should she have been eating alone in her room? And she wasn't expecting to be presented with a rather delicious, large feast when she had sat down to eat.

Everything was just so strange with this woman, this... Enek. It was obvious that Enek wanted to keep her here. There were bars on all the windows and on the first floor, they were all covered up with curtains so no one could peek in. But...

She wasn't chained or tied up. She wasn't forced to eat anything disgusting or be made to beg for food or water. Her room was comfortable and almost reminded her of a princess's room in one of her romance novels. And Enek was very respectable towards her, still treating her as the Ogre Queen, always referring to her as "Your Majesty" or "my Lady" or any other respectful title.

And the food was delicious. If she wasn't so concerned with the ogress's motive and wasn't still unaware of Lugnut's current state, she would have gladly enjoyed the meal.

But she didn't. She just sat there, across the table, slowly eating her food as she watched Enek closely. What did she want from her? She wanted to understand that, at the very least. She didn't seem to want money... So why bring her here? Why kidnap her and have her and Lugnut remain basically prisoners?

Eclipse studied over her. She didn't look very old; perhaps around Megatron's age, maybe a year younger, give or take. Was she mentally ill? Perhaps she had lost a child and the loss had taken a grave toll on her mental health. Was just looking for some sort of replacement? 

That didn't make sense though. Eclipse was an adult, not a baby. Why take her and not some random orphan child? Then again, she was a human and rather small. Not to mention she normally needed someone to protect her, almost like a child would. But that didn't explain anything regarding why she had kept Lugnut here too.

Maybe she was just lonely. Though again, why take Lugnut here too? And if she wanted company, why kidnap her? Surely she would have known that kidnapping her would just bring her trouble... Right?

Unable to stand the silence any longer, Eclipse took a deep breath and said, "Did you make the meal yourself?"

"Why yes.  Most of this are my mother's recipes.  She taught me just like her mother did and her mother before." Enek smiled as she helped herself to some more potatoes.

So she had family.  But no mention of anyone other than a mother. Was it just her mother or did she just not bring it up?  Maybe if she kept talking, she could find out more.

"It's very good.  I think that was the best piece of ham I've had in years."

"Oh!  I-I'm so honored you enjoy it, my lady.  My mother taught me that one when I was just five.  But she liked to cook it with oranges instead of apples. I would do so, but oranges are so very hard to get these days.  So I started using apples and it tasted delicious once I figured out the spices."

"Oh." She took another bite out of the food. Well, she could definitely see what she meant by that... It had all come together quite nicely.

"I'm just glad it's to your tastes."

"It is. Back at the castle, they usually just use oranges or nothing at all when it comes to ham."

"Yes, well, how are you enjoying the soup, my Lady?"

"Oh, um... It's good too."

All right, that was... different. It was almost like how Megatron would handle things he didn't want to discuss. Quickly and curtly changing the subject. Did Enek have something against the kingdom? She knew that the ogress didn't care for her husband, if their previous conversation was anything to go off of.

But Enek never said why she disliked him. She just made it very clear that she did. Though it was dangerous, Eclipse decided to push at it. Gently though, she couldn't just rush into it too quickly. She had no idea what sort of reaction she may get it she wasn't careful.

"And your room? Does it suit your tastes?" 

"Oh, oh, yes, it's fine."

"Nothing needs to be changed?"

"N-No... No, it's fine. Not... Not as many books as the ones I have back at the castle, but-"

"I'll gladly get you more."

"Oh. Thank you.  I do love reading new things."

"Of course.  I have some older books that you might like," Enek served herself some more food.  "More carrots, Your Majesty?"

"Yes please."  She was getting somewhere.  Eclipse knew it was the castle, but still didn't know what. Was it just Megatron? But she hadn't mentioned him at all.

They sat eating for a few more minutes before Eclipse had to speak up.

"Um... Miss Enek?"

"Yes, my Lady?"

"About my dress... The one I was originally wearing before. What happened to it?"

"I burned it."

Her eyes widened in horror. Burned it? But Megatron had commissioned that specially for her! It had been one of her favorites (and one of his too, considering it was easier to take off than her other gowns). How could she have just have done something like that?! The seamstresses had spent so much time on it, trying to make it perfect for her... It had been created back when she was still a princess, only Megatron's lover but still spoiled by him nonetheless.

He did so much to take her happy. Or just to make her blush. Sometimes both. And that dress had been one of those times. How could Enek just get rid of it as if it were trash?!

"B-But Meg- my husband had that made for me-!"

"You need not worry about him, my Lady."

"But it-!"

"Forget about that abusive bastard!" Enek screamed, standing up and slamming her hands down hard on the table.

Eclipse gasped and flinched back in fright, pressing into her seat. Oh Primus, she had set her off. She had gone too far with her words, foolishly bringing up the king when she knew Enek disliked him. But to call him an abusive bastard? She didn't understand, but was too frightened to ask her to clarify. Not when she was staring at her with wild eyes, face tight with rage and fear.

But the anger quickly went away as if nothing had happened.  "Oh... forgive me. I slipped a bit. Let me just move some of these empty plates out of our way."

It was a complete one-eighty from the ogress that looked ready to clear the table and snap her neck in two. Eclipse couldn't stop her hands from shaking at the fear of being on the end of that glare again.

Primus, just what sort of person had kidnapped her? And what did she mean abusive husband?  That... She couldn't mean the man who spirited her away and loved her and made her happy? Megatron had never once hurt her, not once… Her happiness was always his priority, as was his to her. How could _anyone_ think that he abused her?

Her thoughts raged on in her head before she jumped when the ogress returned again. She smiled at her, which made the Queen pale in fright. "Would you like some more tea, Your Majesty?"

Eclipse didn't refuse.  And she didn't refuse dessert either when it had been offered. But the chocolate cake made her stomach clench and she felt sick, so she ended up not eating most of it. And she felt as if she had been at the table for an eternity, anxiously waiting to be allowed to leave and hide back up in her room.

The ogress eventually took her back to her room and prepared a bath for her. She had offered to help wash her, but Eclipse quickly dismissed her, giving the excuse that she was very tired and just wanted to give herself a quick rinse before heading to bed. The other seemed to buy it and left the queen to her own hands, closing her bathroom as she left.

Her bath didn’t last long since she was too frightened to relax in it properly. The windowless room made her uneasy and she found herself shaking.

Bringing up her husband or the castle was not an option. What she had seen before… That must have been only a fraction of the ogress's true anger. She had switched so quickly too. And when she had glared at her… Eclipse had thought the woman was going to kill her.

She didn’t want to think about it anymore. She finished her bath and quickly got herself dresses and ready for bed. She blew out the candles in the room before crawling into bed, wrapping the blankets tightly around her, as if they would protect her from Enek.

She wasn’t safe here. She had to find Lugnut. She had to find an escape route or… just something. Anything to get her and Lugnut out of this terrible place. 

Primus... Eclipse buried her face into the pillows, hugging her blankets tighter. She wanted to go home.


	8. Chapter 8

Bombrush and Shockwave knew it had been wise of them to stand back when they had given Megatron Bloodshed’s report. He threw a chair across the room and had knocked the table over in a fit of rage. It was to be expected though. A mage had been involved in Eclipse’s disappearance.

And everyone knew how Megatron felt about mages.

Not that Bombrush and Shockwave didn’t understand. They had been there during King Galvatron’s reign. Bombrush had just been the captain of the guard and Shockwave was more or less Megatron’s assigned playmate when they had been children. And while they all knew the king hadn’t been a good one, they were more concerned about someone else in the court, pulling Galvatron’s strings.

Advisor Devi. A beautiful woman, if Bombrush recalled. Beautiful, intelligent and very manipulative. And a mage. She had just been part of the court once. However, shortly after Megatron’s mother had passed away after giving birth to him, she had gotten into Galvatron’s favor and worked her way into an advisor position.

To this day, Megatron still didn’t know if Devi and Galvatron had ever had a sexual relationship with each other. Devi had never married and Galvatron wasn’t the only man she had wrapped around her finger. And she had given birth to a child, a little mage girl named Enek, but no one knew who the father was. The girl had looked nothing like Galvatron or Megatron, so it seemed safe to say that perhaps they hadn’t been sleeping together.

Regardless if they had or not, Megatron had still hated the mage. And it certainly made him form a bias against them, one that Bombrush didn’t necessarily agree with but one he understood. Somewhat.

And once he had taken over, Bombrush could still remember the day Megatron had exiled Devi and her daughter out of his kingdom. The woman had cursed him, as did her child, and they vowed vengeance. It was a threat that they had all put to the back of their minds, especially when Shockwave’s spies had caught wind of Devi’s death years later. No one knew what had become of her child though, but everyone had assumed she had perished.

At least until they had received Bloodshed’s report.

“Fucking witches…” he snarled, panting and visibly shaking in rage. “All of them… I’ll fucking exterminate all of them!”

"Lord Megatron, please, you must-"

"If you tell me to calm down, Shockwave, I'll rip your throat out."

Bombrush knew he had to get Megatron to sit down. Otherwise he would start following through on his threats against his most trusted advisor. He walked over to the king and grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at him.

"Megatron, you need to focus. This is a pivotal first step to getting back your wife. Going around threatening to murder everyone isn't going to bring her back."

"Don't make me throw you out that window, Bombrush.  I do not have time for your diplomacy-"

"Then make time! Megatron, we have to sit down and think of what to do! We only have an idea who was involved in your wife's disappearance! If we wait too long to act, we have no idea what might happen to her!"

He didn't like using that as a threat against the man, but he had to get him to think straight. Eclipse's life was on the line. Maybe Lugnut's too, they couldn't be sure. Whoever had done this was doing their damnedest to make sure that they were never found. And if it was as Shockwave had suspected, Enek was probably doing this as some sort of revenge plot against him.

And there was no better way to strike at the king than to go for his wife, no matter how cowardly such an attack was.

"Your Majesty." Shockwave stepped up to them, now not as frightened about getting punched by his King, "If whoever took your wife is hoping for you to make a mistake to attack, then you will fall into whatever trap this mage has probably set up."

Megatron took his glare off of Bombrush to look at his advisor.  "Trap? What trap?"

"Whoever this is, whether they're after you or just Queen Eclipse, they have clearly been planning this for some time. The fact that no one knew they had been taken for so long-"

"He's got a point," Bombrush added in. "We have to assume that this was done to throw you off. Make you angry and prone to doing stupid things."

"My wife is missing and all you two idiots want to talk about is politics and strategy-!"

"Because it's what we need to focus on in order to find her, Megatron!" Bombrush shouted, growing tired of running around in circles. He was worried about Eclipse too, but they had to be careful about this, even more so now that they knew mages were involved.

"We need to understand the reasoning behind the kidnapping in order to figure out how to get her back, Your Majesty," Shockwave went on. "If we can figure out what their goals are, then we can work to outmaneuver them."

"What the hell do we need to do besides find them, kill them, and bring Eclipse back?!"

"And Lugnut," Bombrush added

"If this is someone who wants something, some demands they want met that only you want, they might be hoping to put you in a position where you will have little control over what they say. If they want to kill you or capture you, then you running out there to look for Queen Eclipse is the perfect opportunity to do so."

"And if they're not?" Megatron ripped himself out of Bombrush's grasp to level his glare at them both. "What if it's her parents finally found a way to take her back?  What if they have her and they're already sent her on her way to some bastard king in a faraway land?  What if it's someone's-?!"

"Well, nothing is going to get done if you just stand there worrying about what might have happened instead of actually planning something," Bombrush said, rubbing his eyes. "I'll meet with my men on how to scout the area. Novabomb will have to give us help on where to look."

Right... Right, Novabomb's mother had been a mage. So naturally he had some magic within him too... Damn it, why did it have to be mages? Witches and all that shit... There was a reason why he had exiled Devi and her kid. He didn't want to deal with this sort of dangerous shit.

And now his wife was involved in all of this. And Primus only knew what was being done to her and Lugnut with whatever bastard had gotten a hold of them.

"My Lord." Shockwave stepped over to him as he seemed to calm down, sitting down on the couch. "I have a speech prepared for the public tomorrow."

"Just focus on that for now," Bombrush said, heading back to the door. "Once you get that out of the way first thing tomorrow, we can expand our efforts in locating the queen. And you'll have the public on your side. With the Queen involved, everyone will be looking for her, actively in search parties or just reporting what they see to guards. We'll find her."

Megatron didn't reply, so Bombrush only gave a nod to Shockwave and left them to look over the speech.

Bombrush hoped he was right. He was just trying to give the king something to hold onto for hope, but... To say they would find her when they still weren't even sure where to start looking? It was probably foolish for him to say that. Still, he wanted to hope that Eclipse and Lugnut were all right. That they were safe and would be found.

If Lugnut was still alive, he was no doubt thinking of ways to have Eclipse escape. Even if it resulted in his own death. She would be found.

She had to be found.

* * *

"Nova, you've been slowing down for the past hour. What's going on?"

The blue-haired ogre let out a heavy huff and shook his head. He knew this would happen, but he had hoped that it wouldn't have faded away as quickly as it did. Damn magic, always erasing itself after too long... And at the worst times too. They needed to find the queen and this was the only trail they had!

A trail that had all but faded away and left them in the middle of an open field.

He turned back to Bloodshed, who had been following behind him the entire time. "The trail's all but gone now."

"So... You can't trace it all the way to where Queen Eclipse is."

He shook his head.

"Fuck," the captain growled to himself, shaking his head. Great, now they would just have to wander around for a bit... But at least set up marker here. That way they wouldn't lose the end of their trail and they could go from there in tomorrow's search.

"I'm sorry, it faded out before I could keep up with it.  Damn it, I should have gone faster-"

"Don't blame yourself, Novabomb." Bloodshed sighed as he looked out at the field.  Shit, this wasn't exactly screaming 'hideaway-to-hold-a-Queen' or anything. Nothing.  Nothing at all to give them some sort of idea where or who had Queen Eclipse.

Novabomb sat down in the grass. Damn it, he failed. Miserably. He was the only one who could sense magic and he had lost the only trail they had to find the Queen and Lugnut. Maybe he should have gone faster. But he had slow down because of all the time he thought he had the trail only to realize that the magic was trying to lead him astray.

But he hadn't gone faster even when Bloodshed had urged him to hurry less they lose the trail.  But he did.  He lost it and Queen Eclipse and Lugnut were never going to be found.

"Hey." Novabomb nearly jumped when Bloodshed put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

"But I lost-"

"You said it was fading away and who knows how long its really been since the Queen and Lugnut were taken. You got us this far."

"If I had hurried, I might have found them."

"You were focused on staying on the trail, right?"

"Yeah."

"So you can say without any doubts that they went in this direction?"

Novabomb looked out to the mountains spanning the view. "I guess. Unless the one who took them made a hard right or something and kept going."

"No, I don't think so." Bloodshed walked forward past him to look ahead.  "All the twists and turns were at the beginning of the trail.  It's been mostly straight for the past few hours."

"So?"

"So they don't think anyone would have followed them that far.  They grow lax and make it easier for us."

"That's still an entire mountain side to search!" Novabomb got up to his feet.  "How do we find them in all of that?  There's gotta be at least hundreds of good hiding spaces in there."

"It's better than combing the entire kingdom. And we may have some help."

"Help?  That's Optimus's territory somewhere over that!"

"Hey, it's better than the humans or Nemesis."

Novabomb scrunched up his nose. Yeah, Optimus was better than those guys.

Bloodshed gave the horizon a good look over before he turned back to Novabomb.  "Nebula should have sent someone to follow us.  Go back and send one of them back with a report."

"Okay." The blue-haired ogre turned to run before he stopped.  "Uh, what should I tell the King?"

"Tell him we've lost the trail, but we have a place to look."  Bloodshed kept his eyes on the mountain range.  "Qlans Mountains."

Novabomb wasn't sure how that would be taken, but it was better than nothing.

He just hoped that was enough for his king.


	9. Chapter 9

Lugnut woke up that morning tired and hungry. His arms were sore from being chained up and his stomach clenched from not being able to eat last night. All he had managed to get from the witch was water and whatever gruel had slid down his face close enough to his mouth. It had tasted awful, as he knew it would, but it was sustenance. It was for his survival.

He still had no idea where Eclipse was or how she was doing. He strained to hear anything going on above the basement, but there was nothing. Except for the footsteps every now and then. But it was only one person's feet moving about and they were far too heavy to be Eclipse's. Other than that, he had heard nothing to indicate that the queen was with the witch.

But it did let him know that it was just him, Eclipse, and the witch in the house. There were no servants or cooks or even guards. This woman lived alone... Probably because no one wanted to interact with mages out of fear and the witch and her mother had been exiled years ago. Living out in the middle of nowhere alone seemed like an obvious choice.

His fists clenched into hands. Damn it, he just needed to break free... He should have gathered up more strength with rest. But how the hell could he sleep knowing his queen was in danger? The witch was unstable. Primus only knew what she would do to Eclipse if pushed hard enough. And that was what he was afraid of the most. Something happening to Eclipse and he would be unable to protect her. All because he had let the witch take control of him.

He heard the door open.  Shit, was she coming down here to throw food and water at him again?

Lugnut didn't even bother to look up at her. Whatever she was going to rant about now meant little to him.  Only knowing that the Queen was alright and not being harmed would be the only thing that would make him give her any of his attention.

"Oh good, you're awake."

He refused to answer her.

"I don't have to waste this water then." She put something down, probably the bucket of water she was going to use, "Don't resist."

Resist?  Resist wh-?!

He suddenly felt something cold in his body. Cool, thick, ice it felt like. It spread from his chest to his arms and legs and feet and hands.  Then he could feel it starting to crawl up into his head.

No, he didn't want it there.  He didn't want it in his head.  He didn't like it, he didn't like it there.  He remembered-

"I told you not to resist."

The icy feeling turned painfully hot. It stung like hot metal as he was forced to feel it crawl up into his mouth, his eyes, his ears.

And then it turned cold again. It persisted all over his body. He was so tired that he wanted to sleep, but he couldn't.  Not when he felt something move his body to sit up.

She sighed and shook her head. "You pathetic little ogre.  If you'd only obey me like you do your damn monster of a king." The witch reached into her pocket, that he could see now, and unchained him.  But even with his hands free, he couldn't move them to grab her neck and choke her unconscious.

Shit, why couldn't he move?!

"Come, I need your help with something."

Lugnut found himself standing up and following her up the stairs. Damn it, he just wanted to grab her by the hair and throw her down the stairs. He should have been able to do it. Easily. She was open and vulnerable. Now would have been an ideal opportunity to kill her and get Eclipse out of here.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his hands to move. He couldn't even speak. All he could was follow her up the stairs and into the door above. He couldn't even flinch his body back when the natural sunlight assaulted his eyes, only able to squint and try to get used to it. Primus, it made his head hurt...

"I need to help me prepare my sewing room," she said, leading him to a room in the far back of the small manor. "I need to make Her Majesty a dress."

A dress? What the hell? Since when was this woman attentive to Eclipse's needs? And why would she suddenly want to make Eclipse a dress? He felt as if he were missing something important in all of this. But he could ask what and only watched her throw open the curtains to let more light. Primus, it was so dusty... She wasn't expecting to make a dress for Eclipse in such a dirty, unkempt room, was she? Eclipse deserved so much more than some dust-riddled gown...

"You will start by cleaning up," she said, gesturing. "Move around some boxes and crates. And I want these mirrors-" She pointed to two large mirrors that were lying up against the walls. "Here and there, right by the little stand by the windows."

Taking a better look with what little movement he could give, he could see more clearly now that this room had definitely been a sewing room. And it had definitely been used in the past. Now though... It probably hadn't been used in years. Did the witch even know how to sew? Or was she just going to use her filthy magic to have everything be done for her?

"And in the closet there-" she gestured to another door "- are various fabrics. Once you are done with moving everything around, pull out all the white and light pink fabrics you can find and set them on the table here."

Lugnut wondered for a moment if she would just leave him to it. Would her magic be just as powerful if she weren't there to monitor him? That should give him a chance to escape. Once her magic weakened, he could break free of the hold she had on his body. How, he wasn't sure yet, but that ogre... Novabomb. His mother had been a... a mage. And he knew a lot about magic. If a spell wasn't strong enough, people could break free of it. At least that was what he had said once.

It would give him a chance to break free. To kill her. To find Eclipse and get out of here.

But when he saw her pick up a broom, he realized that they would cleaning up this room together. She turned to him with a small smirk on her face, as if she had been reading his mind the entire time.

"You didn't think I would let a dog like you roam around freely, now, did you?"

His eyes narrowed at her as he gritted his teeth.

"Get to work, dearie," she said, turning away from him. "I want to begin on Her Majesty's dress today. I have to make her forget about the one she was forced to wear. Having been made to wear a whore's dress... Your king is no better than a dog pissing on its toy to mark it as its own."

He thought he was able to grasp his hand into a fist, but if it did, he wasn't sure. But even if it did, it wasn't as if it mattered. He couldn't punch her or kill her for speaking of the king in such an ill manner. He had never felt so useless as he did now. Unable to defend his king's name, unable to kill this witch, unable to protect his queen... What could was he if he couldn't even protect those he had sworn his life to?

Instead, now, all he could as the witch had ordered and pick up crates. As if he were her slave. A dog.

He swore, when he finally broke free of her, he would make sure her death was long and painful and that she was conscious for every single second of it.

* * *

Eclipse had not been expecting to wake up to a note lying at the foot of her door. Enek must have slipped it inside while she slept. Primus only knew how long it had been there though. She had only woken up fifteen minutes ago when she found it on the floor.

She was even more surprised to see that the letter told her that once she was ready to eat, she could come downstairs and have breakfast. Even though she really didn't want to see Enek again, she decided to jump at the chance to wander down the stairs. Eclipse decided to quietly explore the manor for a bit, since Enek had not been in the dining room when she peeked inside. 

The door leading outside was locked. Eclipse didn't expect any less. And the windows were all stilled barred and shut. But she could still wander freely though the rest of the house, with the exception of two doors. One that was in the kitchen and another that was upstairs down the hall from her room. She had to figure the one upstairs was where Enek slept. As for the one in the kitchen... She had no idea, but she didn't dare try to open it and find out.

Once the grandfather clock chimed ten, Eclipse knew it was best to hurry back to the dining room and eat. She didn't want to angry Enek again like she had last night. When she returned, Enek was still not there, so Eclipse merely sat at the table and started to eat quietly.

She was rather glad to be alone. Enek... frightened her. She didn't know how to go about dealing with her. She was so unstable, Eclipse feared saying the wrong thing and this time finding herself dead over the whole matter. 

Her eyes fell to her left hand. She had only noticed it when she had woken up this morning, but her wedding ring was missing. She feared that Enek had also gotten rid of it. After all, she had burned her dress because she seemed to hate Megatron. Calling him... abusive. A monster. It wouldn't have surprised her if she had destroyed the wedding ring too.

Eclipse bit her lip and looked down at her food. Why? Why did she hate Megatron so much? She knew her husband was a bold king, aggressive and at times ruthless, but he was not a bad person. He took care of his people. He made sure everyone was well fed and taken care of and those who hurt others were punished. What could he have done to make Enek hate him so much?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps come from down the hall. Eclipse didn't turn around and kept her head down, hoping to finish her food quick enough so she could retreat back into her bedroom.

As the footsteps got louder, Eclipse finished up the pastry she was eating before wiping her face and quickly hurrying out of the room.  Maybe she could get upstairs before-

But just as she stepped into the hallway, she ended up running into Enek herself.

"Y-Your Majesty?"

And behind her was a very familiar ogre.

"Lugnut?!" Her hand came to her mouth as she watched the man stop behind the ogress, not even reacting at all to her. "Lugnut, what are you-?"

"Y-Your Majesty!  Y-You surprised me.  I-I thought you would have finished breakfast alread-"

"Lugnut!" Eclipse ran past the ogress to her friend.  "Lugnut, what's wrong? Lugnut!"

She didn't know what was wrong with him. He wasn't answering, wasn't responding, wasn't even looking at her.  It was like he was a doll, standing there listlessly.

"My Queen, he can't-"

"What did you do to him?!" Eclipse turned to the ogress. "What's wrong with him?  Why isn't he speaking-!"

A loud thump interrupted her. Eclipse turned to find that her friend had collapsed to his knees, but before she could ask if he was all right, his arms shot out to grab her, pulling her close to him.

"Damn it, you!" Eclipse could hear as her face was pressed into his neck, "Let her go, you ungrateful dog!"

 "...run~"

Before Eclipse could even figure out what was going on, a hand yanked her away from Lugnut.  Unable to balance herself from the sudden movement, she fell to the floor with a hard thud before she looked up to a horrifying sight.

Enek had her hand out, anger radiating from her body as Lugnut was convulsing.  His body hit the floor hard as he twitched and kicked and shook his head wildly.

"Stop!" she screamed.  "Stop it, you're hurting him!"  

"It won't if he stops resisting me!"

"Stop, please, stop!" Eclipse tried to get up, but her legs were shaking so hard.  "Stop, stop, he'll die!"

But the ogress... the witch... she wouldn't listen. She wouldn't stop and Lugnut just kept convulsing and gasping and clawing at the floor and he was going to die and she couldn't do anything and... and... 

Eclipse couldn't stop herself from crying. Helpless, powerless, useless... she could only sob and mutter out incomprehensible words as she watched Lugnut slowly stop shaking to finally lay on the floor, not moving. Was he dead? Had this… witch, killed him? Right in front of her.

Lugnut suddenly sat up, making her jump with tears still pouring down her face. His eyes were wide. Pupils dilated. Lifeless and almost as he were dead, like the time when he had grabbed her and Enek had been rendered her unconscious. But he was alive, breathing normally, looking dazed. But breathing. Alive.

“Lugnut-!”

She found the strength to push off the ground and run past the witch, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and crying into his shoulder. It didn’t matter that he didn’t – or couldn’t – hold her back. She could hear his heart, beating in his chest. Enek hadn’t killed him. He was all right. For now anyway.

Primus, they had to get out of here.

His hands came up to grab her by the shoulders and push her away, though gently. Eclipse gasped and stared up at her zombie of a guard, who just held her out and kept her away from his body.

Enek suddenly came up behind her and pulled her away from her friend. Eclipse struggled a bit as the mage pushed her behind her, much like a mother protecting her child from touching something dirty. Then Lugnut stood up, almost like a soldier on duty. Eclipse tried to get around her, but Enek wouldn’t let the Queen pass her, no matter how hard she tried.

“Your Majesty, stay back-!”

“What did you do to him?!” she screamed just as the ogress turned to face her.

Tears were still streaming down her face and she was shaking like mad. What even was Enek? A mage? She never knew of any outside of storybooks and maybe Novabomb, whenever she had a chance to speak with him. She had never met an actual full-blooded mage before. At least not until now.

Megatron had only talked about them once. And not in a very good way either. When she had heard Novabomb was of mage-descent, she had asked Megatron if Novabomb had to be placed under special training. But the boy could not use magic, just see it and sense it apparently. And how Megatron put it, if the boy were a mage, he probably would have him more heavily watched.

She never asked why he disliked mages, but she didn’t pry. It just wasn’t her business and she didn’t want to make the man angry.

But now… Now she could understand why he had reservation about them. 

“He’s dangerous,” Enek said. “I had to get him under control-”

“You could have killed him!”

“If he didn’t resist, it would have been painless. Mind manipulation and possession is always tricky. The fault was his own-”

“R-Release him!” Eclipse screamed, her tears falling faster as her shaking grew. “I-I demand you remove your spell from him, at once!”

Enek’s eyes widened. Was the queen out of her mind? If she did that, then it would give the ogre the chance to escape! Or worse, he would do something to hurt the queen… The beast had already grabbed her. What if he did something else to her and actually hurt her?! Wasn’t she worried about that?

She had to convince her to think rationally. She couldn’t let Eclipse put herself in danger. Her nerves were simply getting to her. Primus, just how much had that bastard king brainwashed her? She just wasn’t thinking straight.

“Please, Your Highness-!”

“ _Release him! Now!_ ”

Eclipse didn’t know if she had intimidated the ogress into submission or the woman simply felt as if she had to follow orders. Whatever the reason was, Lugnut slumped a bit, panting hard and blinking rapidly as he tried to gather his surroundings.

“W-What-?”

“Lugnut!”

The Queen ran to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as she cried into his shoulder. Primus… Thank Primus, he was alive. He was breathing… He was okay. For now anyway.

Lugnut was still in a confused dazed, unsure what was going on. His body felt like an anchor and he felt sick, as if ready to vomit at any moment. His heart was pounding and he was could feel his muscles tremble underneath him, having little to no strength to move.

But he forced his arms up when he realized the queen was crying into his skin. He gently wrapped them around her and petted her head, trying to calm her down but to no avail. He would have tried to tell her he was fine, but his mouth was dry and his throat hurt. Glancing away from her for a moment, his eyes fell to the witch. 

Anger couldn’t even begin to describe what was radiating off of her. She looked at him as if he were an abomination, like dirt beneath her heel. Her face was bright red and her eyes were wide, hands tightened up into fists. It made him summon the energy to glare back at her, his arms tighten a bit around the queen. He couldn’t let his guard down, no matter how tired he was. They weren’t safe… Not yet, anyway.

“Lugnut… Primus, Lugnut…”

But he wouldn’t say that. Not when Eclipse was already under so much distressed.

Enek flinched when she saw the ogre hug the queen tighter, a rage swelling in her chest. Why? Why would the queen insist on leaving this filthy animal unleashed?! Did she not realize that if she didn’t have him under her control, he could escape? Drag her with her where she would have to resume her godforsaken role at the king’s whore?!

And to make it even worse, he would probably never let her out of his sights once she was brought back to him. Like a child, he would never want someone else to have the chance at taking his precious toy from him.

No… No, she had to calm down. Think rationally of this. Eclipse was still brainwashed. It would take months, possibly years, to free her from Megatron’s manipulation. She had to go about this slowly and carefully, so the queen would see what she had been forced to endure was not because she had to it. It was because the bastard king had willed it.

She would just have to stick with chains for now. Steels chains on his hands and feet and never keep her back to him. Not unless he was chained up to a fall somewhere.

“Your Majesty.”

The Queen flinched and looked to her with tears still in her eyes, pressing into the guard’s chest in terror.

The poor dear. She had been so stressed out and it was only morning. “Please, step away from the guard. I have to restrain him.”

“B-But he-!”

“If I don’t, he will hurt you and you-”

“Lugnut would never hurt me!” Eclipse cried, pushing out of his grip to turn to the ogress. “L-Lugnut have never d-done anything to hurt me! H-How could you say that?! You don’t even know him!”

Enek opened her mouth to respond when she suddenly saw Lugnut start to move, as if to get up. She was very glad she had kept the chains nearby, just in case something like this happened. With a bit of a quick wave of her hand, the chains came up and charged for the ogre.

Lugnut only had quick second to react, pushing the queen down so she wouldn’t get hit. She fell to the floor with a cry just as the chains flew past her and came for him. He grunted when they knocked him back of his butt, the steel cuffs locking around his wrists and ankles.

“Lugnut-!”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty,” Enek said, eyes narrowed at the other. “He can’t hurt you while he’s chained up. Nor can he take off with you either.”

Eclipse just looked back and forth between Lugnut and the woman. How… How could she do this?! Lugnut was not a mindless animal! And yet, she was treating him no better than a master with a slave. And all these claims about him hurting her… Lugnut had never once harmed her since the first day they had met her garden back home. How could anyone accuse the man who had helped her meet Megatron and had helped bring her here in the first place?

She started to weep again, shaking and whimpering on the floor like a child. Lugnut so desperately wanted to reach out and hold her, to comfort her and tell her everything was going to be all right.

As if he could feed her such lies at a time like this. The witch was mad and he feared what would happen once she was set off. He couldn’t risk Eclipse’s safety for any reason… To lie to her and say that things would be fine wasn’t a good idea, not when he knew that they were both still in danger. Perhaps him more than her, considering how much the witch loathed him.

He would have to bank on Enek’s reluctance to hurt or defy the Queen as means of keeping her safe. He didn’t know how long he could rely on her mental stability, but he would have to try for now.

When the ogre stopped resisting and let the chains fully secure him, Enek breathed deep before moving to the Queen's side. "Your Majesty-"

"No!" Eclipse pushed her hands away and curled up further into the floor, "No, no... help me. Megatron..."

"He can't hurt you anymore, Your Majesty."

Eclipse just buried her face into her hands and sobbed hard. She couldn't even find her voice to lash out at the ogress anymore. She was too tired, too drained... Why didn't she understand? Why did she think Megatron or Lugnut or anyone else would hurt her? Everyone had been nothing but kind to her since the day she arrived in the Ogre Kingdom. No one had ever done anything to hurt her...

Until she had met this woman. Until this woman, this mage, had convinced herself that she needed saving. Why? Eclipse had no idea. If she did, she probably wouldn't be on the floor and sobbing like a child.

But she couldn't help it. She just wanted to go back home. She wanted to leave this terrible place with Lugnut and go back to her husband, who would protect her. Who would love her. Who would make her happy, as he always had.

The Queen whimpered and trembled when Enek suddenly lifted her up. She tried to get away, but she found herself trapped in the ogress's hold. It may her cry harder and look to Lugnut, as if to plead for help. The guard only looked pain, torn between ripping Enek apart and yanking Eclipse back into his arms.

But he could do nothing but sit there, chained down by the steel as he watched in disgust Enek hold the weeping woman to her.

Enek gave him a cold glare before heading back upstairs with the Queen.  She would have to be more careful from now on.  The poor Queen was still too much in shock from being separated from her captor and rapist. It must have been traumatizing to see the ogre who probably stood watch while she was being abused in her presence. But to cry and weep for him...

No, it was just the poor girl's reaction. She had been prisoner to the tyrant and his men for years.  She had no one to rely on, so she had to bond with her captors somehow to stay sane. But to sympathize with them?

This would have to be fixed.  Tomorrow, she would have to begin re-educating Her Majesty on how to live like a free woman again.  And she would have to work on keeping that bastard guard and the Queen from being in the same room again.

Yes, it would all work out, Enek thought as she carried the Queen upstairs.

She would be the one to show the Queen what love truly was.


	10. Chapter 10

Morning had come and gone.  Lunch had been eaten in relative silence throughout the kingdom. And dinner later that night would most likely be the same.

With the sun rising, Megatron had sent out envoys to the corners of his kingdom with a copy of his speech to be read to the masses. And just before the sun was overhead, he had made his speech before the masses just outside his castle walls.

His beloved Queen Eclipse had been kidnapped the night before.  Her loyal guard had also been taken and magic was believed to have been used to spirit them both away. From what they could determine, the party, which included at least one mage that had taken them, had headed east, their last known location somewhere in the Qlans Mountains.

He also informed them that the Royal Army would be sent out to look for the missing Queen and her guard.  King Megatron's call for patience and consideration for the mass exodus of troops kept the public somewhat settled.  Having so many troops moving about was never a good sign, but if it was necessary to find their dear Queen, then they were willing to bear with it.

"My network has informed me that many of the wood workers and miners around the Qlans Mountains are organizing search parties to get a head start on combing the mountain side before our troops get there, Your Majesty."

Megatron looked up from his maps of the mountain pass that kept his and Optimus's kingdoms separate to look at his advisor. "They were informed that there is a mage involved in my wife's disappearance?"

"Yes, your Majesty.  The entire kingdom was warned of the danger that this mage could possess.  But they worry for the Queen's safety and are willing to die to help get Queen Eclipse back safely."

"Hmmm."  He found it foolish.  There was no way ordinary workers would be able to stand up against a mage even if they outnumbered them twenty to one.  But if it helped narrow down where that bastard mage was keeping his wife and loyal guard at, it was something.  "See if your spies can try to coordinate them.  If they comb more of the mountains without overlapping, it might spook the mage into slipping up."

"I doubt ordinary workers would be able to overcome a mage's magic to be overlooked, if Sergeant Novabomb's report is accurate."

Megatron groaned before reaching up the run his hand through his hair, "That is true, but a mage's power cannot be infinite. Whatever magic they use has its weaknesses and should it slip, the more people out looking increases our chances of someone finding anything.  Plus, there may be a few commoners out there with magic in their blood. If I'm correct in remembering, your reports on the mages in my kingdom indicated many of them fled to the edges of my kingdom?" 

Shockwave nodded.  "After we disposed of your father and your public trial and exile of the witch Devi and her child, many mages fled the kingdom fearing you would purge them all.  While many left the kingdom altogether, most just left Connex and the surrounding towns."

"In case I called for all their heads. Not a bad plan."

"Lord Megatron-"

"I know. I won't call for that."

If he did attempt such a thing, even if it was to save his wife, she would never forgive him. While she was used to him being strict and violent at times, a mass purge of a certain group of people would only make Eclipse angry with him. Even if it was to rescue her from whatever bastard was keeping her hostage.

Besides, despite the mages fear of him, he was aware of Eclipse's popularity. Perhaps she was popular among the small mage population too and they would be more inclined to help. Or maybe they would want to make themselves appear to be good people if they helped him find his wife and kill the mage who dared kidnap his wife and most trusted guard.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out the small golden wedding ring that Nebula had delivered with Bloodshed's report. His hand clenched around it as he held it to his chest.

Damn it, he could hardly sleep at all last night. All he could wonder and worry about was his wife. Was she all right? Was she safe? Who had done this? What coward attacked his wife to get to him? She was just an innocent woman in all of this... She had never done anything to incur his enemies' wrath.

"Shockwave."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Where is Bombrush mobilizing the troops for scouting the mountain?"

"In the Qlans Valley. They're setting up camp there. Once they have a secured base location, Bloodshed will lead the search with the advanced guard into the mountains. Bombrush will stay at base organizing the other division. Within the next few days, the rest of the army will march their way there."

"I will also head there shortly."

That caused Shockwave to pause. 

And that pause only made Megatron's eyes narrow at the other. "What?"

"... Sir, you can't just-"

"I did as advised before," he growled, turning back to the map. "I waited for a day and gave a speech to my people. Now I will search for my wife and bring her back."

"But Your Majesty-!"

Shockwave was not expecting the king to violently grab him by the shirt and yank him forward, almost lifting him completely off the ground. This was one of the few times his poker face shattered, staring at the bigger ogre with wide eyes as he was glared at mercilessly. He had been on the receiving end of this look before, but it was rare and it had mostly happened in the past. Never in recent memory.

He understood why though. He had already kept the king from doing what he wanted to do already. And Megatron was not a patient man. When he wanted something, he would get it when he damn well desired it. And when it was something that related to his wife? Shockwave knew standing in his way was suicidal.

But that was why he was the man's advisor. He had to be the voice of reason why Megatron didn't have his. It may end up with him in the healer's room, but he had to serve his king. He had to get him to understand that it was too dangerous to just march out there, even with the army. The mage was probably waiting to kill him. They wanted him out in the open.

If they just wanted money, there would have been a letter by now. Word detailing what they wanted in return for Eclipse and Lugnut back alive in one piece. But there wasn't. And they had to know that no word about his wife for such a long time would drive Megatron into a frenzy. The ogre would do anything to make sure his human wife was safe. And he would go to the ends of the earth to save her, if he had to.

He was still the king though. He had to lead their kingdom and he had to be alive and well to do it. Though Shockwave knew better than to say it out loud... the King did not need a queen to rule. King Megatron's life had more value than Eclipse's at the end of the day. 

"Your Majesty... Please..."

"I have grown tired of your little strategies, Shockwave."  Megatron hissed in his face before letting him go, "It has done nothing but pissed me off and still my wife is not back in my arms.  So now I'm doing things my way."

"M-My Lord-" Shockwave could only watch as Megatron moved around the desk, "My Lord, you cannot just abandon your duties!"

"I have a council of advisors who can run a kingdom on an off day, you can keep it together for a few days."

"But-!"

"I will go looking for my queen, with or without your approval, Shockwave!" Megatron finally shouted, slamming his hands on his desk. "I could give a damn about my duties as king! Eclipse is all that matters! I will have my queen back by my side, even if it means I have to destroy everything that gets in my way!" 

Shockwave couldn't say anything to refute him. He just stared at the king, who eventually slumped back into his chair.

"... Get out. I will be preparing to leave shortly."

"... What shall I tell the other councilmen?"

"For the time being, you are in charge while I am away. If anything urgent comes up that needs my look-over or approval, have a messenger run to the camps Bombrush has set up."

Shockwave only nodded before giving the man a deep bow. When Megatron did not acknowledge him, he left and shut the door behind him, leaving Megatron to sit there as he stared at his maps in silence. Then, after a few more minutes, he pulled out Eclipse's wedding ring again and stared it. Primus, it was so small... Just like her. Small and delicate and fragile.

A beautiful young woman who could be easily crushed and broken by someone if they tried.

Primus, how he could only dream of what was happening to her.  Did they throw her into a dark room with nothing?  Was she getting food or water?  Were they... He could not bear to think of her captors taking liberties with her without Lugnut beside her to protect her.

If this truly were a plan to get him out in the open to kill him... then it wouldn't matter what happened to her so long as he was killed.  Which meant for all he knew...

No, he gripped the wedding ring before pulling it close to his chest.  No, she wasn't dead. There was no way she would be dead. No fool would kill her. Everyone had to know that laying a hand on his Queen would see no rest until he came and cut off their head himself.

He had to believe.  He had to believe that these kidnappers were smart enough to know that Eclipse was worth more alive than dead.  But that didn't mean she had to be uninjured...

Letting out the deep breath he had been holding in, Megatron fixed the pieces on his map before standing up and collecting himself. He needed keep himself together before he left for the Qlans Mountains.  If he was going to be out there looking for his wife, he was not going to let himself get sloppy enough for some two-bit assassin to take him out without a good fight.  He would not die before getting Eclipse safely back in his arms and home.

Holding the ring in his hand tightly, the Ogre King left the war room.

He would not come back without his wife.

* * *

Bombrush looked down at the map, crossing out yet another section of the Qlans Mountains off. More scouts had returned and still found nothing. No sign of any mages or anyone considered a threat. One group had found a little shack, but there was only an older mountain man in there with his wife. They had nothing to report, only horrified to hear their queen had been kidnapped, but they promised they would keep an eye out if they saw anything suspicious. 

He reached up to rub his eyes. The mountains were huge and there was so much ground to cover. He feared that they would never find Eclipse or Lugnut… They had found no signs of a corpse anywhere and he didn’t know if that was relieving or not. Yes, it meant no one was dead, but that didn't mean anyone was alive either.

Shockwave's network was still searching for potential mages who could help, whether it was with looking for the queen or with being able to provide information on suspicious mage activities. So far, they had found nothing yet.

Bombrush prayed that the kidnapper hadn't taken Eclipse into Optimus's territory. It was bad enough they were even going into the mountains without sending any word to the human king of the east. If any of his soldiers came around and saw them searching through, he might take it as a threat of war. The last thing they needed right now was to start any sort of war. They needed to find the Queen before Megatron lost his mind and murdered everyone.

He reached up to rub his eyes again. Primus, how much longer did they have? If Eclipse wasn't dead... Was she being tortured? Were her captors abusing her? He feared to know what was happening to the poor woman. And Lugnut... Would they ever find him too? What had they done with him? Why hadn't he been enough to protect Eclipse?

Whatever was going on, he feared he was going to lose him mind over it.  This wasn't something he had ever had to plan against in all of his years of training and as Megatron's Army General.  Yes, there had been a few hostage situations here and there, but never had he been at such a disadvantage.

There was no one to talk with. No one to negotiate with. All he knew was that someone or some group were holding Queen Eclipse and Lugnut in those mountains somewhere.

There was no guarantee that they would ever be found. They could already be long gone, somewhere no one would ever find them.  Or they could find them.  But their kidnappers could have already done something to them.  To Eclipse.  Something horrible. Something worse than death.

Shit, Bombrush gripped the bridge of his nose hard, he had to concentrate.  He had a Queen and a guard to find and he couldn't just burn down an entire mountainside to find them. Though it would have made things easier...

"Sir!"

Bombrush looked up from his maps at the soldier approaching him, who gave a salute before Bombrush put him at ease.

"His Majesty has arrived. He wants to know of your progress."

Of course he did. And he didn't have any good news for the man, perfect. Still, he knew he couldn't just tell Megatron to wait. He had done enough waiting. Primus, he knew Shockwave wouldn't have been able to get him to stay at the castle. Why the advisor thought he could was beyond him. But the general was certain he had tried.

"Very well. Direct him here."

The soldier nodded, giving another salute before heading off.

Sighing, Bombrush thought about taking a seat before he thought better of  it. He needed to give Megatron the impression that all was not lost.  He wasn't ready to give up just yet even if he was getting tired, but Megatron needed something to keep him sane.

He didn't have to wait long before the king entered the tent, Strika right behind him in place of the missing Lugnut.

"You didn't take long at all."

"Shockwave knew better than to try and keep me at the castle for long," the Ogre King growled out before moving over to see the maps.  "What is our progress?"

Lying outright was not something he wanted to do to his old friend and even trying to butter up the news a bit wouldn't work. Megatron needed answers and the only one he had was the bad news.

"Let's be realistic Megatron, The Qlans Mountains are big. Really big.  Lot of area to cover and I've only had one day and maybe half of my army to work with."

"So you have nothing to show me." Megatron looked over the vast map and glared at it, hoping it would show him where his wife was if he did so, "I give you a day's head start and you can give me nothing?"

"Megatron, once the troops finish up their routes today, we can scout another area tomorrow." Bombrush pointed out the next big area on the map.  "When the main troops come, they can comb through what the scout's have to make sure there was no stone left unturned.  With this, that mage and their cohorts will be found eventually." 

"And my wife?"

Bombrush forgot about that answer. And he didn't have a good one to give.

"Bombrush... what about my wife?" Megatron turned to his general.  "Do you have an answer for me?"

Bombrush couldn't bring himself to speak and just looked down at the map, his hands balling into fists. What was he supposed to do? Lie to him? Act like Eclipse would be just fine when they didn't even know who exactly had even taken her?! That would make Megatron just as angry as telling him that he thought something was happening to her. So he just kept his mouth shut and hung his head.

Fortunately, Megatron didn't attempt to beat him. He just snarled under his breath and slammed a fist down on the table. Damn it... Fuck it all, why did this happen? Why did this have to happen to his wife?! Eclipse was just... She was just a human, innocent in anything having to do with petty grudges against him. She had never hurt a soul. She didn't deserve this...

And it wasn't like before. When she had sent him that letter, telling him she didn't want to be married. He at least knew where she was and Lugnut had been with him. They had been able to rescue her, bring her back to his kingdom... He couldn't do that now. He couldn't just pop up on a balcony and carry her back to his castle, their castle... Because he had no idea where she was and only had a small idea of where she might be.

"Megatron-"

"Your son. And his friend. The mage boy."

"Novabomb?"

"Yes."

"... What of him?" 

"Where is he?"

Bombrush didn't like where this was going. "Still searching up ahead of those other groups. His group most likely will not return until tomorrow afternoon-"

"I want to speak with him when he comes back." His hands clenched into fists. "If he's a fucking mage, then he should be able find my wife. And he hasn't."

"Megatron, Novabomb was never trained-!"

"If he knows how to see magic, the brat knows how to fucking use it!" Megatron shouted, turning on the general. "He should have found my wife! He found the trail that lead us here! How can he not lead us to my wife?!" 

"Meg-!"

"He's just like the rest of those monsters," he snarled. "All of them - all of them could help find my wife, but they don't! They want to hate me, fine! I could care less as to what those magical freaks think of me! If they want to attack my wife to get to me, they're fucking cowards! The lot of them! Shit, I should have just had them all killed when I first took over-!"

"Megatron!"

Megatron stopped when his general suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him once and forcing him to look at him. Strika had moved a bit from her spot, not sure if she should move herself in between the two or not. While she had to protect the king, even she could see he was starting to lose it. And when his wife wasn't there to calm him down, Bombrush normally could.

"Megatron, you can't give them an excuse to hurt her," he said, gripping his shoulders tightly. "Maybe they haven't done anything yet. Maybe they're waiting for you to do something stupid like this, to hurt someone innocent, someone who isn't responsible for this."

"They-!"

"I know; Eclipse hasn't done anything either. But you can't let them do this to you. If this mage is trying to get back at you for what happened all those years ago, they want you to do this. They want to make you into a monster, to have you go around and chop off people's head. But you can't do this. Not now... Not when we still haven't located your wife."

Megatron's teeth gritted together tightly and his knuckles were turning white with how tight his fists were clenched. Damn it, damn it, damn it! His hands were tied. He was being made into a fool... He was being played, being forced to submit to someone else's game. It made him want to murder someone, preferably the person who was behind all of this.

But he couldn't do anything except sit around for more reports until he could go out and look for Eclipse himself.

He pushed Bombrush off of him and turned away to look down at the map, his hands pressing down into the table. Eclipse... She was somewhere in these mountains. Somewhere, a mage was holding her prisoner. Primus only knew how she was being treated. He couldn't stand not knowing what was being done to her. If she was suffering or not... And while he didn't believe in prayer, he found himself praying to every deity that would listen to the pleas of his forsaken soul and would keep Eclipse safe. 

A foolish thing, but it was all he could do at this point. Like a weak little boy, just bowing his head and hoping a miracle would happen.

He brought up a hand to bury his face in. They had to find Eclipse, they just had to... He couldn't... Without her, he just couldn't. He needed her. He couldn't be without her. And if he was forced to... He didn't know how he would fare. He would go on, he had to, but... He just didn't know what would become of him, his soul. It was black enough. Eclipse had at least given him something, something almost wholesome, something he didn't have before he met her.

To go back to that... He didn't want to.

He wouldn't.


	11. Chapter 11

Eclipse had locked herself in her room all day. She refused to come out to eat and refused to talk to Enek, no matter how hard the ogress pressed to speak with her. So all the woman could do was leave her food to eat and water to drink while Eclipse barricaded herself in.

Without help, she bathed and washed herself. Luckily, there were already clothes in the wardrobe so Eclipse just picked the first thing she saw and wore it before forcing herself to go to bed.

Not that she actually slept. Primus, how could she sleep? Lugnut… Lugnut was forced to wear chains and be treated like some sort of animal. Enek had almost killed him. And she couldn’t understand why. All she knew that Enek was trying to save her from… her husband. From her husband that did nothing but love and cherish her since the first day they started writing each other all those years ago.

Why? Why did she think Megatron was hurting her? Why was she hurting Lugnut? Eclipse wanted to cry, but she knew that wouldn’t solve anything. She needed to be strong, to face this head-on like the Queen of the Ogres. She had power and authority over this woman. She should have been able order this woman to release them…

But she couldn’t. This woman had barely listened to her order to release Lugnut. She still trapped him in chains. And Primus only knew what Enek was doing to him when she wasn’t around.

She had to know if he was okay. If he was at the very least alive…

Slowly, she stood up and crawled out of bed. As quietly as she could, she tiptoed out of the room. Thankfully, Enek had been leaving the door unlocked… But that was probably because all the doors and windows were barred and boarded. Was it for Lugnut or for her? Or for both of them. Eclipse didn’t know and really didn’t want to either.

She would have lit a candle, but she was too unafraid to alert the ogress to her presence. The woman had gone to sleep a while ago, having said “Good Night” to her around midnight. According to the grandfather clock, it was two-thirty in the morning now. And it was almost pitch black inside the house, minus the small shimmers of light creeping in through the cracks in the boarded up windows. 

Eclipse made her way down the stairs, winching back and shivering at all of the creaks in the floorboards. She kept stopping to glance up at the witch’s bedroom door. At least what she thought was the witch’s bedroom door. But when she didn’t see it open and the rest of the house remained silent, she continued down the stairs.

She had to find Lugnut. He had to be somewhere in the house, chained like some poor animal… She wanted to see him. To make sure he was okay. She probably wouldn’t have been able to free him from his chains. If the ogress were smart, she would have kept the key with her. And while she seemed delusional, she wasn’t stupid.

That only terrified Eclipse even more.

Once she reached the bottom of the steps, she looked up again. Nothing but silence. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Eclipse slowly made her way down the hall. Her eyes were much more adjusted to the dark, so she could faintly make things out. But every time she heard a creak or see the curtains flutter, she jumped. Primus, where should she even begin looking for her friend? He could have been anywhere in this house…

With her heart beating rapidly in her chest, the queen tiptoed down the dark corridor. Her eyes flickered around, constantly looking over her shoulder in fear that she would find the ogress hiding in the shadows. And when she saw nothing, it didn’t bring her comfort. It only brought her more terror and more fear.

She found herself in the kitchen. One door in the far right corner and another by the stove. Eclipse bit her lip and looked between the two doors. One of them was all boarded up, so she had to assume that one led outside. But the other wasn’t…

Curiosity got the better of her and she wandered over to the door. But when she attempted to turn the knob and open it, it was locked. Her eyes widened. Was Lugnut behind this door? Was that was it was locked? Eclipse looked over her shoulder. No Enek in sight.

She bit her bottom lip and looked around the room. Was the key somewhere in here? Usually people kept keys in the kitchen. At least that how it was in back at the castle. Or was the key to this room with Enek? That would have made the most sense…

Slowly though, she started searching through the drawers. There had to be a key in here somewhere… Or maybe somewhere in the kitchen. In the cupboards? Growing a little more frantic, she started rummaging through everything, trying to make little noise as possible. Her eyes kept darting over her shoulder, praying no one was behind her. What if she woke up Enek? What if the ogress found her down here? What would she think? What would she do?

She had to find Lugnut. She had to make sure he was okay… Maybe they could get out of here, even if he was in chains. Surely her husband had sent people out looking for them. She had been missing with two days. There was no way he wouldn’t already have people searching for her… Though she didn’t even know where she was. She couldn’t expect anyone else to either.  

She opened one of the drawers, which was filled with nothing by knives. Not even normal butter ones. Sharp, clean knives, no doubt meant for preparing food, but... It was definitely a convenient place to keep a weapon, in case something happened.

She heard something creek behind her, causing the poor queen to jump and jerk her head to look over her shoulder. Nothing, no one. Oh Primus, was she starting to hear things now? Her heart beating louder now, she turned back to the knives. With a trembling hand, she picked up a knife and placed it down on the counter in front of her. Just... Just in case she ever needed it.

Then she carefully started moving the knives around. Maybe the key was in there... She had checked everywhere else. Maybe here-! 

She felt it. Old and rusty, but definitely not a knife. Eclipse quickly pulled it up, heart rate increasing as she held the black key in shaking hands. She had no idea if this was even the key to the door, but it was something. It was chance! And she would take that over anything at the moment.

She shut the drawer and turned around to head to the door.

Eclipse was not prepared to see Enek standing right in front of her, staring down at her with wide and wild eyes.

"...Your Majesty?" The ogress spoke with a small squeak to her voice, only making Eclipse's nerves be frazzled more with every breath they took.  "Y-Your Majesty, what are you doing?"

"I-I... I-!  I-!"  She tried to think of something.  Anything. She had the key in her hands and Enek was right there and she had no where to run and she couldn't just try to hide that she was trying to find a key to get out or free Lugnut or-

"My Queen," Enek leaned down suddenly, nearly causing Eclipse to back into the counter before hands grabbed her arms tight, "What... What are you doing?"

The look on the other's face... cold, crazy, eyes staring back into hers... Eclipse couldn't think of what to do.

Except maybe the stupid option that seemed to be her only one left.

But her attempt to grab the knife she had left out only ended up with the ogress pinning her to the counter with her body.

"Your Highness, please-!"

"NNOO!" Eclipse managed to get a grip on the knife, but she couldn't move her arms! "No! Let me go!  Let me go!"

"Your Highness, please, you'll hurt yourself!"

"Let me go!  I want to go home!  Let-!" She could only struggle as the ogress tried to wrangle the knife out of her hands. "NO!  Lugnut!  Help me! Help me!"

"My Queen, you need to calm down! You're safe here, no one can hurt you!"

"No!" 

Eclipse couldn't hold to the knife much longer, but Enek had hurt her hands pulling it away from the distraught human.

"Please... let's just get you to your room."

"No!  No, no, NO!  Help me! Help me!"

"-pse!  Eclipse!"

The Queen heard the barely audible screaming, only to realize that it was coming from the locked door she had been unable to open before.  "Lugnut! Lugnut!"

"Your Highness!" Enek panicked, pulling the human as Eclipse desperately tried to grab at anything to keep her from being dragged back to her room.

"Help me!  Lugnut, help me!"

"Eclipse!"

"No, no, Lugnut!  LUGNUT!" It was useless.  With her guard chained up downstairs and the ogress bigger and stronger than her, Eclipse could only delay the inevitable as she was carried out of the kitchen and back upstairs.

The witch didn't let her go despite Eclipse's attempts to hit her and claw her hands off her once she could no longer hear Lugnut calling out to her.  It only came to a sudden stop when Enek got her into her room and laid her on the bed. But instead of screaming and pounding at her, the queen just turned over onto her stomach and sobbed into the sheets, her hands gripping the covers tightly as she trembled hard on the bed.

Enek placed a hand on her hair, making Eclipse flinch and sob harder. The poor dear... So desperate and terrified. She must have been afraid of what would happen. Of what Megatron would do to her if she was gone too long. Yes, that must have been it. She only wanted to go back in fear of what the king would do if she stayed away for too long. What Lugnut would tell his king if she didn't make it seem like she wanted to go back.

She was trying so hard, all to protect herself. But the queen didn't need to worry... She would protect her. She was a mage; she could control Lugnut and force him to fight if it ever came down to it. There was no way King Megatron could ever find her here. She would be safe here, until Enek decided it was time to relocate somewhere else. Perhaps up north, where no one would ever recognize them. Where no one could ever hurt Eclipse. They would be free, they would never have to worry about that bastard king again...

Eclipse's hard sobs broke her thoughts. A soft look came over the ogress as she ran her fingers through the human's hair, not noticing her flinch and whimper from her touches.

"It's all right, Your Majesty," she murmured softly. "You're safe here. Nothing can hurt you."

The queen just sobbed harder.

"I know, I know you're afraid... But you don't need to be."

The ogress suddenly lifted her up to seat her in her lap. Eclipse gasped and squirmed, terrified when the woman wrapped her arms around her and kept her trapped against her chest. Why wouldn't she just leave her alone?! Just let her and Lugnut go already?! She didn't need protecting or saving from anyone but her! She just wanted to go home!

More tears streamed down her face as she pushed weakly at the ogress's chest.

"No, no, it's all right, Your Highness, I'm here to protect you..."

"L-Let me go...!" she sobbed. "J-Just let me and L-Lugnut go...! I-I want to go home...! I want to go home!"

"This is your home now," Enek murmured in her ear. "Your new home... And you'll be treated like you deserve. Kindly. Sweetly. No one will abuse you here... I will love you, Your Majesty. I promise."

"No... No, I want to go home. I want to go home to Megatron."

"It's alright."  Enek held back the disgust in her voice for the bastard ogre king. She knew the Queen was still under the man's terror and fear.  She had to recondition the Queen to understand that what that monster had done to her was not love or caring or anything of this world.  "You'll be safe here.  You'll learn to love it here like you did at the castle."

Eclipse wept quietly until she feel asleep from exhaustion.  Enek quickly tucked her into bed and left to clean up downstairs.

The witch had expected some outburst due to how long she was away from her former tormentor, but this situation put her in a dilemma. If the Queen was already trying to break out, even resorting to trying to hurt her, she would have to be more strict to help break the poor Queen out of her trance.

So now she would have to put more things under lock and key.  And perhaps supervise the young human more often.

Enek thought it over before she came up with an idea. Yes, that would work. If she did that, the Queen would better see that she meant no harm and only wanted what was best for hor.

It would take a few days, but it would work. She just knew it. 

* * *

Lugnut hadn't been able to sleep all night. Not when he had heard all that screaming the night before.

He had more or less been sleeping when he suddenly heard footsteps from the floor above them. The creaking made him wonder if Enek was up in the middle of the night, looking for something to eat. Or maybe looking for something to find and stab him with.

But when he heard how light and soft they were, he knew they weren't the witch's. She had no reason to tiptoe around the kitchen like some dainty lady. No, those were Eclipse's footsteps. And he had heard the doorknob to the basement jiggle. That had to have been her. That had to have been Eclipse!

Then he heard the heavy footsteps. Enek's footsteps. And then he heard Eclipse screaming. Calling out for help. Calling out for him to help her, to save her.

And all he could do was sit there on his knees and scream back for her, pulling uselessly at his steel chains. But no matter how much he screamed or how hard he pulled, he could break free. All he could do was scream for the queen, as if that would do anything. And then he couldn't hear anything after that, no matter how much he called for her, even when his voice died out.

How could anyone sleep after that? Eclipse, his queen... What had the witch done to her? Had she finally snapped? Had she chained the poor queen up as well?

The door suddenly opened, causing him to jerk up. He bared his teeth and glared daggers at the ogress coming down the stairs, water pitcher and gruel in hand.

"Where is she?" Lugnut snarled. "What did you do with her?"

"You look terrible, dearie, did you even sleep last night?"

"Do not dare attempt to change the subject!" Lugnut shouted, hands balling into fists as he yanked on his chains. Primus, what he wouldn't give to just murder this woman. Murder her and burn her corpse and take Eclipse away from this awful place. "What did you do with Eclipse?!" 

"That's Queen Eclipse to you, barbarian," Enek said calmly, glaring at him. "And I did nothing to her. I merely took her back to her room and calmed her down. You and your king have done very well with your brainwashing, I will say this."

"Brain- What?!" Just how mad was this woman? "You dare insult our king with such accusations?"

"Lying will do you no good, you filthy dog." Enek splashed him with the water in her pitcher.  "Do not think to lie to me about what you and your King did to Queen Eclipse every day and night in your lord's chambers." 

"What?!" Lugnut was too shocked by the icy cold water to give a proper retort to that accusation.

"How many times have you stood by and watched your tyrant king claim his husband rights to Queen Eclipse, forcing her to serve him over and over again until she could not move?!"

"You dare insinuate that King Megatron is a rapist?!"

"Insinuate?" She gave a laugh to that, though it was more bitter and harsh than humorous. "No, dearie, I'm not insinuating anything. I'm saying that is exactly what he is."

Lugnut hands balled so tightly into fists that his knuckles were turning white. His face was starting to turn red. He had heard Megatron be called a lot of things. And while he knew his king was not a saint, he was no demon, save the battlefield. But Megatron had never and would never force himself on another person, especially not his wife and the woman he so deeply loved.

"His Majesty has never done anything to hurt his queen!" Lugnut practically screamed, uncaring that his throat was dry and in desperate need of water. "His Majesty loves Eclipse! He would never do anything to hurt her!"

"That tyrant wouldn't know what love was if it stabbed into his chest like a blade!"

"As if you know what it is either, you damn witch!"

He probably should have expected it, but he was too exhausted and weak to have seen the bucket coming at him. He barely turned away in time . He barely turned away in time that the metal bucket only left a bleeding cut on his forehead and ear.

"When you're done acting out like a spoiled dog, I'll bring you some water to clean you up." She turned away to head back upstairs with the empty pitcher.  "You may be have been one of those monsters who hurt her highness while she was the King's prisoner, but you still have uses for me."

Lugnut could only watch as she went back upstairs and slammed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the basement tied up like a dog.

With nothing else he could do, he picked up the bucket left behind and ate what little was left in it.  He needed whatever strength he had left should he see an opportunity to escape and rescue Eclipse.

Hopefully it would be soon.  He was afraid of what might happen if they stayed any longer with this crazy witch.  And what would become of them should she finally begin to lose it.


	12. Chapter 12

Eclipse was not allowed outside of her room. She figured that the ogress would do so after finding her trying to find a way out before.  But it was becoming too much to have to walk with and eat with the ogress who clearly was not in a right state of mind.

She began to feign illness, confining herself to her bed out of tiredness.  Enek tried to cheer her up, but Eclipse refused her over and over.  Eclipse wanted to do something, but she had no idea what and being around the ogress only made her more ill just listening to the woman speak.

It was worse whenever she talked about her husband. All the woman did was say about how awful he was, what a terrible and immoral person Megatron was. And Eclipse knew that if she tried to defend him, it would only make the ogress angry or she would just dismiss her and tell her that she was only brainwashed to think such things. She didn't need to pretend here.

Eclipse felt like she was going mad. And more and more frightened as each day passed. It had only been about five days since she had first arrived here, but...

Everything was starting to remind her of back home. Back with her parents. Who kept her locked away in their castle, only bringing her out for parties and occasional meetings with suitors. Where no one cared about her, where she was alone with no one to rely on for company. Where she didn't feel safe... Just guarded. Sealed away from the rest of the world, like a bird in a cage.

A cage she couldn't get out of, no matter how much she pulled and tugged at the bars.

Was she doomed to be like this forever? Enek wouldn't even let her see Lugnut. And even when Eclipse found the chance to beg, Enek wouldn't let her. She didn't need Lugnut, according to her. If she wanted someone to talk to, Enek was there. Enek would always be happy and willing to speak with her. Because...

Because the ogress said that she loved her.

Eclipse sat in the corner of her room on the floor, her legs pulled up tightly against her chest with her face buried into her knees. If she had never been rescued by Megatron... was this how her life could have been? Trapped in her room all day as some human king's wife, only being able to talk to him with the excuse being that he loved her?

If Megatron had never shown her what it really meant to be loved, she would have believed such a lie. She would have believed it and remained trapped in the human king's castle until the day she died, acting as his pretty little wife who had to spread her legs when he snapped his fingers. To be trapped here, in this awful place forever...

She couldn't stand the thought. Not with that ogress. She couldn't...

The door suddenly opened, making her hug herself tighter. Why wouldn't she just go away? Why couldn't she just let her and Lugnut go already...?

Enek wasn't surprised to see Eclipse in the corner, but that didn't mean she liked it. Primus, she had been like this for nearly three days and it was getting worse and worse with each passing day. No matter what she did, Eclipse just closed herself off from her... She was just glad she was eating and drinking as she should, but her acting this way wasn't right.

They had really indoctrinated her into thinking she was happy there, into thinking that what was being done to her was acceptable. Such filthy bastards... The poor girl was practically broken from all of this! Primus, how she wished she was better at comforting the poor girl, but whenever she tried, the queen wouldn't listen.

Still, she had to get her out of this room. It simply wasn't healthy.

Slowly, she walked over to the woman, ignoring the flinch Eclipse gave when she kneeled down in front of her.

"Your Majesty?"

Her arms closed tighter around her legs.

"Let's go downstairs," she said softly, as if she were a mother speaking to her child. "I have something for you. I've been working on it diligently these past few days. I think you'll like it."

Eclipse didn't move.

She had been prepared for this. And while she didn't want to do it, it would get Eclipse to get up. Possibly, anyway. She may have not have wanted that animal near her, but the queen had been asking to see him. Even though it wasn't healthy, perhaps having something familiar around would help her adjust a bit. Slowly and surely, and then she could teach the queen everything that had been happened to her was wrong and that Lugnut was indeed a terrible creature.

"The... Your guard will be there too, Your Majesty." 

Eclipse finally looked up from her knees. It took her a second before she looked up at Enek with suspicion.

"Lugnut... You're not lying to me, are you?"

Enek held back a swallow.  Of course she wasn't lying.  As much as it pained her to admit, she needed Lugnut to be there to help decondition the Queen.  But this wasn't good if Eclipse was losing her trust in her.

"Yes, he's downstairs-"

"Still in chains?"

"Yes, for your-"

"Safety, I know.  You keep telling me that."

So she had to understand now why she had to do that. Enek sighed before standing up to offer a hand.

Eclipse took it with reluctance and allowed the ogress to lead her downstairs. The queen just kept her head down the entire time, trying to gently pull her hand away from the ogress. It didn't work though, her hand wrapped tightly around hers. So she was forced to have her hand held as she was lead into the back rooms she hadn't explored before.

Enek walked down to the one all the way at the end of the hallway and opened the door. Eclipse was shocked to see that this was did not have any boarded up windows. Still barred yes, but not boarded up, allowing a lot of natural light to pour into the room. It nearly blinded her and she had forced herself to throw up her hand. Yes, she had natural light come into her bedroom up stairs, but her window faced the side of a mountain; most of the sun didn't come in anyway.

But once her eyes adjusted and she was brought into the room, she turned her head to see Lugnut there, as promised. He looked stunned to see her, eyes wide and locked on her. And as she expected, he chained up and sitting on the floor in the far corner. But she didn't expect him to look so haggard and malnourished with a bandage over his forehead and ear. Oh Primus, what had happened to him where he needed bandages?!

"L-Lugnut?!" Eclipse cried in horror, ripping her hand free from Enek's now loose grip on her hand. She ran to the man and kneeled down in front of her, gently seizing the sides of his face. "Lugnut, oh Primus, Lugnut...!"

He almost couldn't believe it. It was Eclipse. She was all right. His eyes darted all over her body, checking for any signs of injury. No cuts, no bruises, no abrasions... She didn't look like she had lost weight and there was still color in her face. But she looked so tired and distraught... 

"Lugnut...!"

Tears started to fill the corners of those purple eyes, much to his horror. Instinctively, his hands reached up to hold her, wanting to do nothing more than wrap his arms around her and pull her into a tight embrace. But he couldn't wrap his arms around her, not unless he wrapped the chain around her as well. And she had been through enough emotional pain. He didn't want to physically hurt her on top of that.

All he could do was place his hands over hers and shush her gentle.

"It's all right, Miss Eclipse," he whispered softly. "I'm all right."

"W-What happened to you-?!" she sobbed, her voice getting caught in her throat. "Primus, what happened-?!"

He shushed her again. Primus, he couldn't have her worry about him. Not when she already had to worry so much about her own wellbeing. What the witch was doing was nothing. He had been through much worse. Hell, his training with Bombrush to withstand the worst kind of tortures had been much more painstaking than this.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "I'm fine... I'm just glad that you're not hurt."

Eclipse wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder, shaking hard. Primus, why did this have to happen? Why was Enek hurting Lugnut and keeping him chained up like this? He had never done anything wrong, nothing... It made her hug her guard tighter. She wished she could do something. This man always protected her... But she couldn't protect him. She could hug him and weep while he suffered because of this ogress's obsession with keeping her safe from... from nothing. Nothing at all.

Lugnut couldn't hug her and chose to pat her back as best as he could. He could see Enek glaring at him out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't want to focus on her now. Not when he finally had a chance to be with the queen. When he could finally see her well and alive. Now he just wished he could stop her tears from falling so hard...

But he needed to be careful as well. This witch was not mentally sound and seemed convinced that he and Megatron were monsters who had hurt the Queen. If he did anything that seemed like he was trying to harm Eclipse, there was no telling what the witch would do.

At worst, finally kill him and leave Eclipse undefended with a psychotic woman.  At the least, she takes Eclipse away and put him back down in the basement to never see each other again.

Both options would devastate poor Eclipse. He could not do that to her.

"Your Highness." Enek interrupted their moment as she stepped closer.  "That's enough for now.  I wish to show you my work from the past few days."

Lugnut only glanced at her before turning back to Eclipse.  His mind wondered at what the witch was going to do, having seen nothing of significance when he woke up.  She must have had the stuff in another room before she went downstairs to possess him and bring him up here.

But she had said she was going to protect the Queen from him and his King.  Surely she would do no harm to Eclipse with whatever she was planning?

"Your High-"

"Queen Eclipse."

Both women stopped, Eclipse pulling back to look at Lugnut.

"My Queen, the lady of this house has worked hard on something to bequest to you.  I understand your concern, but it would be very rude to not see what she wishes to gift you."

Eclipse was shocked by the sudden cool tone. For a moment, she thought he had been put under some sort of spell. But when she looked at Enek, the ogress seemed surprised as well. Had Lugnut lost his mind?

She looked at him again, as if waiting for him to stay something else. But he just stare at her, his expression blank, but his eyes very much alive and darting to the corner. 

Oh... Oh, he was telling her to just play around. For her sake. Maybe for both of their sakes... At least Eclipse hoped it would be for both of their sakes. She couldn't bear to lose Lugnut... She had already lost her freedom. Primus, she had no idea when or if she would ever see her husband again. Would they ever find them? Surely, they had to. Eventually. She prayed.

Swallowing, the queen reached up and wiped her tears from her eyes. "Y-Yes..." she whimpered out, turning back to the ogress. "Wh-What did you wish to show me?"

Enek snapped out of her surprise to walk up to the human.  "Your Majesty, if you would please step over here."

The witch kept her face neutral as she helped set up the Queen to try on the dress she had been working on. Pardoning herself, she left the room to grab the dress, confused and pondering over the guard's actions to let Eclipse go.

Was he giving up?  Had he lost all hope?  Or was he planning something?  Did he hope to keep her highness under control with some plot?

As the witch left, Eclipse looked back at her guard and asked quietly, "Lugnut, why-?"

"Be careful."

"What?"

"This witch... She's not of right mind." He glanced back at the door Enek had disappeared into. "She's convinced that our Lord, King Megatron, has been hurting you ever since you have been living with us."

"B-But I-I don't understand!" she cried, though keeping her voice at a whisper. "S-She keeps saying I've been hurt, but-!"

"She believes the king has been... forcing you as his personal sex slave, Miss Eclipse."

Eclipse's eyes widened, her jaw dropping. A... sex slave? Enek believed that she was a sex slave?! No, no Megatron would never do something to awful! Not to her or to anyone for that matter! How?! How could anyone believe her husband would do such awful things?!

"B-But that's not-!"

Lugnut quickly shushed her. He knew it wasn't true. He knew Eclipse enjoyed whatever Megatron did to her and that the king always had her love and consent. He had no idea where the witch came up with something such as that, but there was no reasoning with the ogress. She was madwoman. Primus, she had convinced herself that she was in love with Eclipse and that she was saving her...

"She's insane," he muttered, hearing her start to come back down the hallway. "Do not antagonize her. Just... play along. For now."

Eclipse could only get out a nod when the ogress came back into the room, a gown draped over her arm. It was white and pink with frills on it, much like how her room was decorated. Megatron would have hated it. None of her dresses back home looked like that. They were of much darker and some of them were more revealing than others, like much of ogre high fashion. She liked purple better than pink... Her tastes had never been so frilly.

Enek gestured for me to come up on the small step. "It's nowhere near close to being done, Your Majesty, but I wanted to try it on you and see how it fit."

The queen only nodded, deciding to follow Lugnut's advice.

"And you," she said, turning to the chained up ogre. "Avert your eyes while Her Majesty changes."

Lugnut glared at the woman for a moment, but did as she commanded. He could hear fabric shifting around and see Eclipse's other dress fall to the floor.

"How does it feel, Your Majesty?"

"F-Fine..."

"Is the fabric all right? I apologize, I can't afford the nicer silks or satins-"

"N-No, no... this is fine."

Lugnut finally looked up, believing it to be safe. Enek was fussing over the details, making marks on it with a pencil she had as she tightened the corset a bit. Primus, it just looked... so wrong on the queen. He didn't know much about fashion, but the dress just seemed so... plain. And girlish. More for a young naive peasant girl than the Queen of the Ogres.

Eclipse said nothing regarding the design. She was still trying to wrap her mind about what she had just been told. Enek thought that Megatron was... abusing her? That he was raping her? No, no her husband would never... She didn't understand. It didn't make any sense. Even if Enek hated him, how could she come to such a conclusion? Unless... somehow, the woman had snuck into the castle and had seen her husband take her. To an outsider, it may have looked violent, but it was all consensual...

Though, that did bring up a disturbing notion. Had Enek snuck into the castle before? Watching her? Stalking her? Primus, how did she even know she would have been on the road the day the ogress decided to kidnap her? Surely, she had to have been following her this entire time.

It made her tremble in fear, her hands shaking.

And Enek noticed. "Your Majesty?"

Eclipse found herself unable to reply, just holding her hands to her chest in an attempt to stop the shaking. It didn't do much good and Enek turned her attention to Lugnut, her eyes narrowing at him.

"What did you do?"

Lugnut didn't reply.

"You must have done something to her," she accused, pointing her finger to the ogre. "The queen was perfectly fine before your insensitive staring!"

Shit, now she had been angered again. Primus, it didn't take much to rile this woman up now, did it? He glanced at Eclipse, who looked terrified as Enek stormed over to the guard. He gritted his teeth and glared up at her as she stood in front of him, glaring back with just as much hate as his own.

"You're bothering the queen," she snarled.

"I'm only sitting here as you commanded."

"You're staring... With such disgusting, perverted eyes. I shouldn't be surprised though. Your king assaults her every night and you merely sit back and watch, raping her with your eyes as she forced over and over again. Primus, do I have to blindfold you?"

His hands balled into fists. Damn it, to be accused of something monstrous acts... As if he would ever do that to the queen. He would have himself killed before he allowed someone to hurt her like that, let alone watch and get off on it.

But he couldn't do anything. It would compromise Eclipse's own safety.

"I will do my best to keep my eyes on the ground."

"If you do not, I will find a way to blind you. Perhaps permanently-"

"Um!"

Both Enek and Lugnut turned to the queen, who had hopped off the small stand to run to Enek. Though terrified of the woman, she had to get her away from Lugnut before she actually did something to the poor man. If she had to pretend, at least for a little bit to keep her friend safe, then she would.

"I-I have a few... s-suggestions for the dress, M-Miss Enek."

The sudden switch of Enek's personality after that almost terrified Eclipse for a moment. When she had said her name, the ogress had actually blushed. A blush, dear Primus, that actually terrified Eclipse to see. It made her remember what the woman had told her, that she would love her. That she would take care of her...

She feared to think this madwoman had feelings for her, but Eclipse couldn't dwell on it. She just had to get her away from Lugnut.

"Y-Yes, o-of course, Your Highness."

Lugnut spared Eclipse once last chance before forcing his head down while Enek moved Eclipse back to the small stand. Primus... They had to get out of here soon.


	13. Chapter 13

Megatron kept his hands from shaking as he looked over the map again.  Nearly a week had passed since his wife and Lugnut had been taken and there were still no signs of them.  No trails or markings or anything that pointed to them being alive. 

He had still not given up hope yet. Despite his countless days poring over the reports and scouring the mountains with his men, he had not lost his prowess for strategy.

As Shockwave's reports have been keeping up to date on the kingdom's current status, there had also been no letters or declarations for him.  No ransom demands, no proof of having captured his wife or Lugnut, no nothing.

It was as if they had disappeared off the face of the earth.

Megatron's rage for Eclipse's kidnappers only grew day by day.  Whatever these bastards were planning, it was getting bleaker and bleaker with each day of no sightings or no letters for him.

He reached inside his armor to pull out Eclipse's wedding ring.  It had been his tic the past week, taking it out and rubbing it.  He still wondered if Eclipse had dropped it in hopes of leaving a trail or if the kidnappers had done so.

"Megatron?"

Only Bombrush called him by that. And sure enough, the general entered the tent with an exasperated look on his face.  More bad news.

"You've come to update me, I assume?"

"Yeah.  Most of our scouts came back in." Bombrush sat down across from his King and began to move the pieces around.  "Burstback's group finished their section. Only things they found were two abandoned shacks and old wagon that had been stuck in some rocks. Blizzard's group found two suspicious characters, but further interrogation determined they were just some wannabe rogues who hoped to find the Queen before anymore else."

Megatron sighed in disgust.  "More lone wolves?"

"Sadly, there are still fools out there who think they can do a better job than our entire army."

"Your men should have arrested them." Megatron pointed out.  "We're wasting too much of our resources interrogating these would-be heroes when we could be focusing on searching more ground."

"... I would not suggest that even though I do agree that men like those two are making our jobs more difficult. But if we start arresting any civilians who are in these mountains, we'll lose many of the volunteer search parties who have been helping our men."

Megatron growled.  It was only because the locals knew the mountains better that he tolerated them.  As much as he wanted as many people looking for his wife and guard as possible, he was weary of the locals, especially the mage population.

"And has Shockwave's forces been keeping track of them?"

"Well, yes." Bombrush pointed to the markers of the volunteers on the map.  "We have to keep track of where they're double checking and all. And yes, our spies have been told to note anyone of suspicion in case the kidnappers are hiding out with the search parties to keep Intel of our progress."

Silence passed between them as they both stared at the map.

"You still think the kidnappers are hiding in wait?"

"We still haven't found them and they came here of all places..."

"Megatron, we've only covered about a third of the mountain.  We have yet to go in deeper without having comb the outer edges."

"And if they escape into Optimus's kingdom while we crawl around out here?"

"Our own spies are keeping track of the borders. And while we are not the best of friends with Optimus and his people, they would never incite war by allowing a group to use his kingdom to hold your Queen."

Megatron glared at the other.

"Megatron, come on.  You've known Optimus for how long?  Since when does he kidnap spouses to incite war?"

"... He doesn't." 

"Primus, Megatron, I know you're worried, but we have to stop grasping at straws we've already thrown away." Bombrush pointed to part of the map where the borders were drawn.  "All we know now is that someone took them and they're in here somewhere.  Since there have been no demands yet, we can only assume that they're hoping to get you into some kind of elaborate trap they've been planning in the mountains this whole time, they're hoping you incite war with Optimus by bringing an army to the borders-"

"-Or that they only wanted Eclipse."

"Exactly." Bombrush stood up. "I don't want to admit it either, but it makes no sense for someone to take your wife and then just do nothing while you bring out an army to flush them out of the mountains with. At least with a ransom or demands, they have the advantage and the means to do harm to you both should you fail to adhere to them."

"They could still be holding out-"

"Megatron, Novabomb found them here. We have no other leads. It's not like they created that trail and flew off with her and Lugnut to some distant land to hold her in a tower with a dragon or some shit."  Bombrush leaned over the table to look directly at Megatron. "This... This whole thing is getting to me too."

Megatron rubbed the outer edges of the ring before placing his hand on the table.  "Whoever has my wife is not following anything logical."

Bombrush chuckled.  "Now you're starting to sound like Shockwave. But yes, this is nothing like we've ever come across before."

"Sometimes it is what you would never expect." Megatron muttered as he looked between the map and the ring. "Bombrush."

"Yes, Megatron?"

"When you brought up that possibility of the kidnappers only wanting Eclipse.  And just her." Now he stood up to face his general, "Did you have any thoughts?  Any plans, ideas? Surely you must have thought of something to help if that were the case?"

Bombrush swallowed before looking down at the map, trying to remember exactly what he had been thinking before he looked up to face his king again.

"If the kidnapper or all of them just wanted Eclipse... my first thought was that they would get as far away from here as possible."

"Fleeing the kingdom?"

"Yes.  Of course, if the kidnapper was native to our country, which I am starting to suspect with the difficulty of finding them in the Qlan Mountains, then I would think they wouldn't do so."

"But if to flee would make more sense, why stay?"

"Same reason most animals do no flee their habitat until it has all but been destroyed.  They don't know of what else lies beyond it."

Megatron looked at the maps again. There was a good point to Bombrush's deductions.  They were not exactly surrounded by the best places to run off too. Eclipse's human kingdom could pay for her return, but there was no guarantee of safety for them if they did so. And trying to hide the kidnapped princess in her own country was not a safe bet even if it had been years and all had thought her dead.  Optimus was also a human kingdom, difficult for an ogre to hide in, and there was little they could negotiate with.  Optimus would not tolerate a political hostage in his kingdom with a warring ogre kingdom ready to go to war to get said hostage back.

North wasn't the safest route to travel by either. But if they tried to go south... Nemesis was a cruel ruler, but that didn't mean one could make a decent living in hiding there.

But yes, all of those options looked bad for any kidnapper and trying to get through any of them to get to further lands wasn't a sound plan either.

"So they stay in the kingdom. What else?"

"If one cannot run far enough in a decent amount of time to escape capture, you hide.  And that has to be what the kidnappers are doing.  They're holding Eclipse somewhere where no one can find them."

"Then we continue what we're doing now and find them." 

"No," Bombrush looked over the map. "No, that's too obvious. And too easy."

"Too easy?" Megatron went around the table to stand next to his general, "We have an entire army out there combing the mountain side and you think that isn't enough?"

"I'm not.  It's still possible that our army can still find her. But it's how we found the trail that is making me nervous."

It suddenly hit Megatron.  Shit, Bombrush had a point.  Novabomb, a mage-blooded ogre, found the only trail of where Eclipse and Lugnut had been taken.  And if that was the case.

"They're using magic to hide their location?"

"Exactly.  Like with the trail, as Novabomb explained, it takes a lot to keep up anything like a disguise or hiding a trail.  But there are other methods of using magic for long periods of time without tiring out the mage."

"... Then all of our searching could be for naught?"

Bombrush bit his lip before turning to Megatron. "We need to put the local mages into our search parties."

"You can't be serious!"

"I hate to say it, but it's the only thing I can offer right now.  We reach out to the local mages and with our own troops, we re-comb the areas done before and catch up to the main scouting groups."

"But that will take even longer! And there's no telling if any-!"

"I know that.  But do you really think that every mage in this area is in some kind of convoluted plot to play keep away with your wife?"

Megatron grinded his teeth before returning back to his seat.

"Is there nothing else?"

"Other than letting our soldiers scout blindly through an entire mountain and hope they stumble over a magical seat that reveals a giant fucking castle where's she being kept, then no. We need the local mages. Other than Novabomb and a few soldiers who have a small amount of mage blood in them, we don't have the main power to comb through the areas again with all of them in a reasonable amount of time. I know Novabomb and the others have been scouting around looking for traces of magic, but they're only a few men. We need more help and we need those mages."

Megatron bit the inside of his lip hard, blood filling his mouth before he leaned over the table with the giant map on it.

Shit... Shit, he didn't... he didn't want to.

But they had found nothing.  Nothing at all.

"Do it."

"Megatron?"

"Do it.  Just... get your mages and search again, if you must."

"Yes Megatron." Bombrush spared the defeated man a look before leaving to act on his new orders.

Megatron didn't want to give up. But a week already and still nothing...

He could not give in to despair. Not when there was still hope of his wife being alive.

She had to be.  She just had to still be out there alive.


	14. Chapter 14

Eclipse was currently in her bedroom, sitting on her bed with Enek brushing her hair after long bath. Lugnut had been sent back down to the basement earlier after dinner, much to her dismay. Even if the poor man were in chains, she would rather have him with her and out of such a horrible dark room. She hated seeing him being treated like an animal.

But she couldn't protest such things to Enek. She didn't want to anger her... No, she had to be careful. She had to wait it out. Surely soon enough, Lugnut would break out and they could escape. Or perhaps her husband would find them soon. She just wanted to go home... She missed Megatron. She missed everyone. She missed being free.

"Your hair is very soft, Your Majesty."

"Th-Thank you."

"Very healthy... My mother had hair likes yours. Did I ever mention how we used to live in the court?"

"N-No..."

"Oh well, yes, we did."

Enek put down the brush and started to braid the queen's hair, much to the other's discomfort. Eclipse barely wanted to allow Enek to brush it. To have her play with it... It only made her back feel cold as her spine tingled. Primus, she just wanted this day to end already. Just go to sleep and wake up and pretend that none of this happened...

"My mother and King Galvatron were quite close. Good friends... I liked him. Most people didn't though, because he was good to my mother and I. Your... husband didn't like us, because we were mages. And treated us and his father unfairly because he didn't hate our kind."

Eclipse almost corrected her, but quickly bit the inside of her lip to prevent her from saying such foolish things. It didn't matter if she knew the truth. That Galvatron had been a poor ruler and half the people were starving in the streets, hating the monarch and nobles who kept everything to themselves. She had never agreed with Megatron's decision to seize the throne by force and execute his father and other nobles, but...

The people were happier now. The economy was more prosperous. Orphanages and schools were being funded and children no longer had to be beggars while their parents scrounged up what little money they could to support themselves. There were still problems, of course, but Megatron was still seeing to them. He just wanted to keep his kingdom strong... and sometimes you had to get rid of those holding the country back with force.

At least that was how Megatron had explained it to her. Again, she didn't necessarily agree with it, but she knew that there was more to Megatron's coup than just him disliking two mages. 

"I was actually training to take my mother's place," Enek said, giving a bit of a laugh. "Imagine me, as your husband's advisor? Though I would have been far better than Sir Shockwave... I still remember him when I was a little girl. A boring child. And a bit creepy too, always keeping to himself and following King Megatron around like a dog... The loyalty was shameless."

Eclipse couldn't stop herself from frowning. She knew the history of their friendship. To hear someone say such things about Shockwave... It was uncalled for.

"But I digress," she said, giving a small huff. "It was a much simpler time back then. Things were much nicer... Mages didn't have to live in fear about anyone's unjust wrath. And you wouldn't have been forced to suffer, had he not been king."

Eclipse's hands balled into fists. Why did this woman have everything so wrong? She made herself to be the victim in everything... And her as well. Enek made her into a victim of some deluded reality where people were abusing her and Enek was her only chance at rescue...

"Your Majesty?"

Eclipse froze up when she felt the woman's hands suddenly rest on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry..." The woman rested her head against her back, making Eclipse tense up even more. "If I had been an advisor or still in the court... None of this would have happened. You wouldn't have had to suffer. You never would have been forced to become that madman's personal harlot-"

"Stop it!"

Enek's eyes widened as she jerked her head up to the look at the queen, who jerked away from her to glare at her with both fear and anger in her eyes. It only made Enek more confused.

"Your Maje-?"

"S-Stop saying such things!" she cried, unable to take it anymore. "Just stop!

She couldn't stand hearing such awful things about her husband and her subjects anymore. Lugnut told her to keep herself calm, but she couldn't stand it! She could only tolerate hearing her husband be insulted for so long... And by someone who had no idea what sort of person he really was? It made her blood boil, no matter how terrified she was of Enek! 

"M-My husband has done nothing but love me!" she shouted, hugging herself tightly as she wished he were here now. "H-He saved me! I-If it weren't for, I would have been married off to some king I had never met who would have used me for breeding! Just to breed and breed like a cow until I died!"

"Queen-!"

"No! Megatron has been nothing but love and cherish me since the day I came here! Always! He's always taken care of me! A-And the people too! He is a good king, a good ruler who looks out for his people! S-So just stop! Stop saying such awful things about my husband! Y-You don't know him! You don't know him like I do! You know nothing about the man I fell in love with, so just stop it already!"

Enek titled her head, her eyes still wide. Had she heard right? The man Eclipse loved? That... monster? No, no it couldn't have been like that. The king hurt her. She couldn't love a monster like him. It was just the brainwashing, just simply that...

"No..." Enek said, her voice soft, barely above a whisper. "No... No, you're simply confused, Your Majesty."

"Please..." Eclipse gripped her head tightly. Why wouldn't she listen to her? Why couldn't she understand?! "Please, my husband... I love my husband, please, he doesn't hurt me, you have it wrong, you have it wrong, please..."

"Your Majesty..." Enek slowly stood up to stand in front of the poor woman, whose hands were starting to grip into her hair. "Your Majesty, I know it's hard for you. But your... husband is hurting you. He doesn't love you. Not like I do. Everything I do is to protect you, to keep you safe. He abuses you. He-"

"No, he doesn't!" Eclipse screamed. "Megatron has never once hurt me! A-Always! He's always loved me! E-Everything he has done to me, I have enjoyed! I-I've liked it, all of it! H-He loves me! And I love him!"

Enek just stared at her for the longest time, eyes wide and head tilted. Love? She loved him and the things he did to her? Even though all he did was force her to take him every night? Push her down on the bed and rape her like some sort of animal? How could she say she loved someone who did that to her?

What about what she did for her? She prepared her the finest foods and kept her comfortable and safe and made her dresses and would get her anything she asked for... That was love. What the king did to her wasn't... It was monstrous, barbaric...

Eclipse gasped and stiffened when the ogress's hands grabbed her arms, gripping them tightly. Not enough to hurt, but to make the poor queen shake in her grasp. Especially when she saw the manic look on her captor's face. Primus, it was just like the night she had caught her trying to get into the basement. And somehow, Eclipse felt even more terrified than before. The smile on Enek's face, alongside the wide eyes locked on hers, paralyzed her in fear.

"Your Majesty..."

The voice sent a cold shiver down her spine. It was so high and the tone was so sweet... And carried a threat behind it.

"Your Majesty... Don't you have it wrong?" she asked gently. "Love is... Love is when someone takes care of you. Yes... Taking care of you. And your needs... Have I not been doing that?" 

Eclipse couldn't answer, shaking too hard to find her voice.

"Is there something I'm not doing right? Something I'm lacking?"

Eclipse found the courage to speak up. Maybe if she just said the truth... Maybe she could get Enek to see what she was doing wasn't love. It was madness. Terrifying and complete and utter madness.

"Y-You..."

"Your Majesty-?"

"Th-This isn't love..." she whimpered out, forcing herself to keep looking at the other. . She couldn't turn her head away now. She had to make it clear that she didn't like this. That this wasn't right. "Y-You... M-Miss Enek, this isn't love. Y-You aren't showing me love. M-My husband does... M-Megatron loves me... A-And you... You can't love me l-like he can... Y-You just... You can't."

Enek stared at her.  Without blinking.  For what seemed like forever.

Eclipse was growing more and more scared by the second as the ogress didn't do anything.  Primus, had she finally set the witch off?  Lugnut had warned her to be careful of what she did around the witch.  She could tell that the woman was not fully there, but surely she wouldn't- No, she had hurt Lugnut before in front of her, so she wouldn't...

Would the witch finally kill her?

But in what seemed like forever, the witch finally released Eclipse and turned away, staring into nothing.

She had to say something because the tension rising in the room was just choking her. "M-Miss-?"

"I'll bring you up some tea later, your Highness."

Eclipse only watched in a wave of confusion and fear as the ogress stood up and left her room quickly.

She had no idea why, but the Queen could only fear dread running down her spine. 

* * *

Enek watched the kettle boil. An empty cup and saucer sat nearby with tea leaves sitting inside, her favorite.  The Queen's favorite...

Her hands shook as she waited for the water to boil. She couldn't understand.

What had she done wrong?  Had she not been kind enough?  Should she have curtsied?  Bowed more often to the Queen?  Was something wrong with her food?  Had she put too much salt in her ham soup?  Was the cutlery set up wrong?  Had she left a crease on the bed when she remade it that one day?

What had she done?  Why, why, why couldn't the Queen see that she truly did love her?

She cared for her.  She made sure her Highness was happy, content. She had food, proper clothes, a clean, comfy bed.  No monster came to her room every night to demand her body.  No beast pulled her out of the safety of her room to mark her in front of the others. No tyrant... No tyrant flaunted her around as his property, fucking her like a mad dog in front of his court.

So why, why, why did the Queen think she was not loving her like that bastard king was?

Then it hit her.  Enek's eyes stayed open, wide and unwavering even when the water finally began to boil and steam, hot air whistling undisturbed in the kitchen.

Of course... of course!

The Queen... she didn't know what love truly was. Having been- Yes, the Queen had been in a loveless home in her own kingdom and then she was kidnapped and raped here in that tyrant's kingdom, forced to marry him and be his whorish toy Queen. She had- All this time, she had only known of her King's 'love' by-

So that's why... The Queen must have cared for her. But she didn't equate all she had done to love.  For love, it meant that she would have to-

But now Enek was stuck.  She finally moved to remove the ear-schreeching kettle to make the Queen's tea.  She was... She was a witch, but she was still just a woman.  The Queen- would she even welcome her offerings if she could? But what if she didn't like her? Like women?  If she only craved a man, a man's flesh, his hot body and organs-

Wait. She did have a man's flesh.

It just wasn't hers.

She shut off the stove, her eyes darting to the basement door. Her mother had taught her a spell, one that she had been practicing for years now. She had only used it a few times in the past and it was always so draining... But her mother had told her that was to be expected. Such a spell took practice...

But she had been able to hold out for an hour, sometimes more with the spell. And she was stronger now, her magic wasn't as weak as it used to be. If she practiced with this... She would be able to give the queen what she wanted. And she would love her and forget about her abusive husband. Yes, yes, it was just a matter of giving her what she wanted most.

She pulled out the key from her sleeve pocket and walked over to the door, unlocking it before heading down the steps. Perhaps the ogre she had kept would have more use than she thought... And since the queen seemed so attached to to this ogre... Maybe it would work better. Yes, yes, everything would work out well... She had done well with this.

Lugnut glanced up when he saw the witch descending down the stairs. He said nothing and kept his head down. Now what did the witch want? Did she need him for more manual labor? Or did she want him to keep Eclipse calm again? Damn it, how could this pathetic woman not see that Eclipse was terrified of her? She was the monster in all of this... She needed to be disposed of. He had to get rid of her. For Eclipse's sake-

A hand suddenly grabbed his hair and yanked him to look up. He would have hissed had he not been caught off guard by the smile on her face. Primus... Her eyes were wide, twitching a bit and out of focus. Her teeth were shining brilliantly. She looked demonic... And insane.

Had she finally snapped?

"You..."

He stiffened when she brought her face closer to hers.

"You're going to be much more useful than I thought." Then she moved her hand to cover his face. "Now... Don't move."

Lugnut felt his entire body tense up, a cold chill slowly forming in his head. He desperately tried to resist, mentally fight back, but when it did, it felt like he was being burned. Burned by ice, the cold spreading to the rest of his body. What was she doing? Was she tried to take control of his mind again? Making him into some sort of zombie, her puppet?

"This... This will make Her Majesty happy. This will make her love me."

His eyes widened. Eclipse? What did this have to do with Eclipse-?! 

"I will own this body, whether you fight me or not."

A gasp escaped his throat as a blinding white light came over his eyes, pain wrapping around his mind with an iron grip. Primus, it felt like his entire body had been taken over by icy, yet... Everything burned. And no matter what he did, he couldn't stop it. He couldn't pull away or resist!

Then it stopped. He found himself slumped over, the witch's hand no longer touching in. In fact, her body was now lying on the ground, lifeless. Was she dead? What had happened? He would have moved, but...

He couldn't. He couldn't control his hands. Or his head. Or anywhere on his body. He could only see out of eyes that didn't even feel like his. And his mind... His head hurt. But something felt wrong. He wasn't just hearing his thoughts. There was another...

"Ah," he said. But the voice wasn't his own. It sounded like his, but... mixed in with another voice. A woman's voice. "So... this is your body."

It was finally coming together for him. And in horror, he realized what had happened. The witch had possessed him, not just his mind... His entire body. And her mind overrode his, leaving her in control of everything and leaving him to only see through his eyes. Nothing more than that.

"This... is a man's body," she said, moving his hands to touch his arms. "Much... stronger than I imagined. So... strange. Is this what the Queen likes?"

What?  Wait, the Queen likes-?  Shit, did she know that-! Lugnut tried to shut himself, but he was already remembering.  The nights his King called him to join them.  Eclipse's soft lips and warm breasts and her hot, welcoming womb accepting him just like her husband's-

Primus, he couldn't.  He couldn’t remember that.  What if the witch-?  What if she saw-?

"All this strength... I could do whatever I want to do and no one would be able to stop me." Primus, she wasn't paying attention to him.  So at least she didn't know about him and Eclipse... but still, what was she planning? And why did she need to use his body?

"Are you listening in there, you monster?" Crap, was she talking to him?  "Tell me, how many times have you watched it happen?

He found that he suddenly had the ability to talk again.

"Well?" she demanded.

Primus, what could he say?

"W-Watch... what?"

"Your tyrant king, you fiend." Her voice took over again, his throat feeling like hot coals were traveling through it as he tried to speak again, "How many times have you watched that monster take the Queen on his bed?"

"I-I-!" Lugnut found his voice again, only to gasp again as the hot embers still burned his throat, "I-I d-don't-!"

"Liar!" she snarled. "Answer me, now!"

"I-I don't... r-recall..." he managed to choke out. He feared what she would do if she thought he was lying. He couldn't let her kill him. He couldn't leave Eclipse alone with this madwoman.

"Of course... why would you?" She chuckled, causing his throat to hurt more.  "You've probably seen him do so many despicable acts to her that raping her on his bed is mundane to you."

He couldn't reply, mainly because she would not allow it.

"But that doesn't matter now. He won't ever hurt her again. Not ever.  And I'll make sure she's loved plenty."

Shit, what was she talking about? Was she just being confident in her hiding spot?  Or was she going to move them?  Was that why she took over his body?  She was going to flee with Eclipse in his body?

But then why would she leave her own body? Unless...

"Now don't cause me any trouble. I have control here and if you try to stop me, I'll make it more painful for you." She moved his arms to get more of a scope of his body.  "If you behave, maybe you'll find some joy in it... not that you deserve it."

Lugnut could only feel dread around him as he watched her start to move his body around.  Primus... Primus, whatever this madwoman was thinking, please don't let Eclipse be hurt because of it.


	15. Chapter 15

Eclipse was a little nervous when Enek did not return with the tea as quickly as she normally did. Had she said too much? Had she finally made the woman snap? And if she had... where was she?

The queen paced around the room, the anxiety keeping her from sitting still. Where was she? Had she punished Lugnut for the things she said? Would she blame him? It definitely wouldn't be the first time... But if that were the case, she had to do something. She couldn't just stand around and have Lugnut be hurt over a few things she said!

But what could she do? It wasn't as if she could break down the door. She had no strength for that... But she had to find a way out of here! Find Enek, find Lugnut, to make sure she wasn't hurting him. Wasn't doing anything terrible like she had done to the poor man before...

She was so focused on her own thoughts that she didn't hear the heavy footsteps outside the room. It wasn't long until she heard the doorknob turn, making her jump and look over. Her eyes widened when the door opened, seeing Lugnut's hulking figure stand there. No longer in chains. And Enek was nowhere in sight.

"L-Lugnut?" she stuttered, hands trembling.

He didn't reply.

Where was Enek? How did he get out?! And... She glanced at his face. He didn't look like a zombie. He looked very much alive. His eyes were darting about, as if inspecting the room. Then they turned to her and she swallowed, finding the courage to step closer to him.

"H-How...?" She couldn't believe it. Had he really broken free? Had he finally got out? What had become of the ogress. There wasn't an blood on him, so he couldn't have stabbed her or anything... Had he found a way to choke her? He must have caught her off guard; there was no way she would have just let him escape!

"L-Lugnut-!"

She almost ran to him. Almost. But she had stopped short when he smiled. Lugnut never smiled like that. Not so... creepily. And his eyes never glowed that much.

Then he spoke, in a voice that definitely was not just his own, "It's only me, Your Majesty."

Eclipse's blood turned to ice when she finally realized whose voice that was.  "E-Enek?"

"Of course, Your Majesty. As always, I am at your service."

"W-What-?" Eclipse brought her hands up to her mouth. "L-Lugnut... w-what did you-?"

"There is no need to fear him, Your Majesty. He has no control. I've ensured that he won't harm you in any way."

"B-But you-!  W-What did you do to him?"

"A simple body possession, Queen Eclipse." The ogre moved forward slowly, much to Eclipse’s horror. "I'm inside him, controlling his ever action, his every breath."

Eclipse stepped back again, legs starting to shake. "W-W-Why? Why are you doing this?"

The ogre stopped, as if confused. "Your Highness, don't you see?" Lugnut's arms opened up to emphasize the large form before her, like an ogre presenting his weapon to someone for inspection. "I can now finally show you what true love really is."

"True... love?  True love, what-!" Eclipse's eyes opened wide as the words suddenly started to make sense to her in horror.

"That bastard king made you believe that his 'love' was real.  Taking you on his bed like a beast over and over every night." Lugnut's body moved closer, matching Eclipse's shaky steps back until the human was pressed against the wall, "But now I can show you what love really is.  How a real lover cares and loves their beloved."

“N-No…” She pressed further into the wall, shaking violently as the body stalked closer to her. “N-No, g-get away… L-Leave me alone!”

The ogre reached to grabbed her arms, causing her to scream and push away from the other. She made a run for the door, which was still left wide open. If she couldn’t get out of the house, perhaps she could hide somewhere. Anywhere. Until the ogress was too weak to chase her anymore in Lugnut’s body.

But a large hand caught her by the arm and pulled her into Lugnut’s chest. The poor queen screamed, pushing hard against the other but to no avail.

“It’s all right, Your Majesty,” Enek said, forcing the queen to look up at the other. “I’ll show you what love really is. In a male body, just as you desire.”

Eclipse went to scream again, but Lugnut’s body leaned forward, his lips crushing hers and locking them in a needy kiss. The queen’s eyes widened in terror, especially when his tongue slipped in. Oh Primus, this couldn’t be happening! Enek… The ogress was using Lugnut to… No! No!

She cried out into the kiss, struggling hard to free herself from the witch’s grasp. But it was no use. She was using Lugnut’s body. Eclipse knew just how strong he was. He had held her many times before, with and without Megatron. She knew that she had no strength to fight him off, not even if she tried with all of her might.

This wasn’t right. This was… wrong. This wasn’t her Lugnut. Her Lugnut wouldn’t kiss her without permission. Would never keep her pinned and helpless unless she asked for it. She shouldn’t have been so terrified of what was to come… 

She reached up her hands and pushed as hard as she could. Enek must have not have been expecting it because Eclipse found herself being released, but she fell back against the sheets, panting and shaking hard. Enek just stared at her, head titled and eyes locked on her shaking form. Primus, this couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be real! 

“If that’s what you wish, Your Majesty…” She came closer to her, causing Eclipse to shake more in terror. “We can get to it now, if that’s what you desire.”

Eclipse scrambled to get to her feet, but Enek quickly used Lugnut’s body to pick her up. Eclipse screamed as she placed to lie more comfortably on her back, the huge hulking form of her bodyguard hovering above her. No, no, she couldn’t do this… Enek couldn’t do this! She reached up and pushed against her, but no matter how hard she pushed, the ogress wouldn’t budge.

Enek leaned down to plant a kiss to her cheek. The poor dear… She was so nervous. Shaking and trembling… It had to be because of whose body she was using. Of course the queen would have been afraid of this dog’s body. How many times had this man watched her be defiled? Still, it was the only male form she could use. She would have to make up for it with as many kisses and touches as she could to get the queen to be more comfortable.

“N-No…!” Eclipse whimpered, gripping Lugnut’s shoulders tightly. “Pl-Please, E-Enek, d-don’t-!”

The ogress didn’t listen when she used Lugnut’s hands to grab at the back of her nightgown and pull it hard, ripping it down the middle to touch her bare back. The poor queen shrieked and threw back her head, only to gasp when she felt lips at her neck. No, no, not this, she didn’t want this!

“L-Let me go!” she choked out. “Pl-Please, stop it! I-I don’t want this! Stop!”

“I know, it’s hard to relax,” Enek murmured, planting soft kisses all across her neck. “But don’t worry… The dog can’t hurt you. I’m in control. I won’t let him do anything. I’ll take care of you.”

That was exactly the thing she _didn’t_ want. This was… repulsive. This wasn’t Lugnut. Lugnut made her feel safe and loved and comfortable. If she wanted to stop, he would. And then he would hold her, comfort her, tell her that it was all right and that he would never do anything she didn’t want to do. But even though this was his body… It wasn’t him; it was Enek. The ogress who kept them both prisoner here, the one who never listened to her, no matter how much she pleaded to be let out.

Now… Now the woman was touching her. She said she was going to show her what real love was. And despite being as terrified as she was, Eclipse wasn’t stupid. She knew what the other meant. With all her might, she struggled beneath her, desperate to try and get away. If she could just lock herself in the bathroom, maybe that would work. Maybe she could get away for now.

But Lugnut’s body overpowered her and she was trapped beneath the madwoman, shaking and whimpering beneath her unable to do anything else.

Enek was beside herself. Primus, the queen… she was so soft. Much softer than she had thought. Her skin was smooth and she looked so… beautiful. It aroused her new body’s lower half, but she ignored it for now. She had to focus on pleasing Eclipse. That bastard king had hurt her so many time, using her soft body for his sadistic relief. How could anyone do anything to this woman outside of cherishment? She would never understand…

She was so absorbed in her kisses and touches that she didn’t even feel Lugnut struggling against her. His mind was still very much awake, just trapped in his own body, unable to move it or make it listen to him. He fought hard against Enek’s own mind, but no matter what he did… Nothing worked. He could not get his own body to open him.

He was just forced to watch through his own eyes, Eclipse pinned beneath his body and struggling violently against the witch, the fear very apparent on her face. And even worse, he could feel it. He could feel his lips on her skin, his hands press against her back… Though the feeling was not as strong as what the witch felt, it was still there. And he could most definitely feel a heat pooling in his groin.

Damn it, damn it, damn it! He had to stop this! He couldn’t just let this happen! To let his queen be defiled by this monster… He couldn’t just stand back and do nothing!

Enek could feel the other’s conscious fight against her. She growled and knocked the back of her hand, letting go of the trembling queen.

“Sorry, Your Majesty,” she said, able to shake the other off for now. “The guard isn’t being complacent.”

“Th-Then l-let him go-!”

“If I do that, I won’t be able to please you, Your Majesty. I won’t be able to get your to understand.”

Eclipse flinched back when Enek came close to her again, turning over on her back in an attempt to try crawling away from her. Instead, it just allowed Enek to keep her pinned with her to Lugnut’s chest, his lips at her neck. 

“Pl-Please…!” Eclipse begged. “D-Don’t do this, not this…" 

“Shh,” she whispered, slowly pulling down her dress. “Don’t worry, just relax. Let me take care of everything… I’ll make it good for you. I’m a woman too… I know how to touch you better than a man could.”

As if Eclipse cared about that. This felt so wrong. It made her sick to her stomach. And no matter how hard she tried to fight the other off of her, Enek wouldn’t budge. To make things worse, she pulled her dress down far enough that her breasts fell out, exposed and causing Eclipse to shiver when the cold hit her skin. No… No, no more…

“Ah?!”

Giant hands suddenly clamped over her breasts. Eclipse’s face turned bright red. Oh Primus, she was already touching her breasts… Enek’s breathing grew heavier in her ear, much to her disgust.

“Y-You’re so… soft, Your Majesty…”

"S-Stop!  Stop, please... I-I don't want this!"

"Your Majesty, it's alright now. I'll make you feel good." She had to remind herself that the Queen had been through so much with that monster king.  Queen Eclipse had been hurt so much, made to do so much without her consent.  So of course she would act so violently.  This is how she had to survive all those nights in the bed of that monster.  "You'll enjoy it this time. It won't be like that bastard's."

"No!  No, no-!  Lugnut! Help me!"

Lugnut, as if he had only blinked, realized that Eclipse was calling out to him.  Again, he tried to reach out and stop his body from touching the Queen's, but he found himself unable to even twitch a finger.  Once again, he was forced to watch it move by that witch's will as hands, his hands, squeezed and play with Eclipse's breasts like they were toys. 

Primus, had this woman truly lost her mind?! Did she not see Eclipse screaming and clawing at her hands, begging her to stop?!  Or did she-  Fuck, how he wanted to just find this bitch that was using his body and rip her throat out! She dare call his King a rapist! And here she was being a hypocrite by doing what she accused him of to the King's own wife!!

That anger was enough for him to wretch control of a single hand.  To his shock and Enek's, it stopped grasping Eclipse's breast and wretched itself away from her body to grab the bed sheets.

"Oh for... You damn dog!" Enek released Eclipse's breasts, letting the poor Queen fall to the bed in shaken fear as the witch summoned more of her mental strength to cast the ogre back into the recesses of his body.  "Stay. Down!"

Eclipse hesitated, thinking Lugnut had finally gained control and had sent the ogress away when she heard her speak again. Her delay only saw her turned onto her stomach in an attempt to crawl away before she was pinned again.

"I'm sorry, My Queen, he won't bother you again."

"NNOOOO!" Eclipse's screams went unanswered as a hand pressed down on her back while another pulled her nightgown down more.  "No! Lugnut! Megatron! Help me! Help me! Help me!"

Enek shushed her again, planting soft kisses all across her back. The poor dear... She was having so many terrible flashbacks. It almost made her want to stop. This was obviously scary for her. She didn't know what to think. But Enek pushed it aside for now. The queen was probably not used to being treated so gently before. The unfamiliar touches probably just made her confused... But she had to show Eclipse that this was how things were supposed to be. She shouldn't have been afraid of sex... Not gentle and true sweet love-making. She had to show her the truth. For her sake.

"I promise, Your Majesty," she murmured against her skin. "You will enjoy this."

"N-No!" she shrieked, tears starting to develop in the corners of her eyes. "NO! No, please! Let me go! Please!"

But the ogress did no such thing. She gently pulled the nightgown off of her trembling form, pushing it off to the side and letting it slide off onto the floor. Eclipse's shaking grew even worse. All she had on now were her lower undergarments. And with Lugnut's strength, they wouldn't be hard to remove. And then... Then Enek would...

Eclipse felt Enek pull Lugnut's hand away, allowing her to jerk over onto her back again. She attempted to scoot back, perhaps pull her legs to her chest and hide herself against the headboard. But she moved too slowly and Enek grabbed her leg, pulling her towards her. The poor queen gasped when her legs were suddenly pushed back into her chest, Lugnut's body standing over her as his hands held down her thighs, giving Enek a full view of her covered pussy. 

She tensed up when she heard Enek's breathing grow heavy. Oh Primus... Was she actually getting turned on by this?! No, no, she just wanted it to stop... To make it go away...

Enek licked her lips. Primus... The queen looked so beautiful. And just behind those frilly white undergarments... was her womanhood. Her... Her pussy. It was taking a lot of her self-control to not just rip the fabric off of her and push herself inside. She couldn't do such a thing to the queen. She needed to be gentle, caring... She needed to make sure that Queen Eclipse enjoyed this and orgasmed before she put it in. She had to make sure she was well stretched. This ogre had a rather... large organ. She didn't want to hurt the queen on accident by pushing it so suddenly. 

Taking a deep breath, she looked to the queen and smiled, much to the other's terror.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I won't hurt you." 

Eclipse couldn't speak, even when the other leaned down and planted a soft kiss to her covered cunt. She only twitched and gasped, hugging herself as she threw back her head. Please... Please, Primus, make it stop...

Enek felt the other shiver under her kiss. Primus, she tasted so sweet and she hadn't removed her panties yet.  But she had to start small and work her way up to that to help the Queen get used to the gentleness of her love.

She adjusted the Queen's legs a bit so she could hold them with one hand.  She was lucky the ogre's body was so big, she could easily hold her Majesty's legs with just one hand.  And taking the other done, she gently pressed it against the wet spot on the Queen's panties.

"Mmm!" Eclipse hissed out.

Enek took it as a positive reaction and pressed there again. And when the queen gave another squeak, she gently moved her finger over the area, rubbing at the soft dampness underneath. Primus, she smelled wonderful... And she made the cuteness noises whenever she brushed her finger over her clit. It must have been a sensitive part for her.

As the witch continued to play with her covered womanhood, Eclipse just lied there, trembling and whimpering with each touch. Why was this happening?! And why was her body reacting?! She hated this... She hated it so much. And yet, the touches made her pussy wet and her body shiver, even though she felt no pleasure from this at all. Why was this happening? Why was she doing this?

It went over for several more agonizing minutes. Eclipse could feel her undergarments grow wetter and wetter, especially whenever Enek would plant soft kisses to her clit. She threw her arms over her face. How long would she have to lie there? How long until Enek finally just...?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt fingers brush against her naked labia. She gasped and jerked her head up, eyes widening when she saw that Enek had dipped her fingers inside her undergarments. Enek looked up at her and smiled, making Eclipse pale.

"You're getting wet, Your Majesty."

"Pl-Pl-Please... M-Miss En-Enek, d-don't-!"

Enek only pecked her cheek before moving her fingers to press into her womanhood, one pushing inside her wet vagina.

"AH!  N-No!" Eclipse's body spasmed as the giant finger slowly pressed in. "No... No, no, no..."

"There, there, Your Highness. It's just my finger. It's alright now."

Eclipse moaned as the finger slowly pressed around her walls, making her body spasm over and over.  Primus, this didn't feel right.  It wasn't like when her husband or her best friend did this to her in her bed.  Where they whispered dirty, comforting, words into her ears or held her close to lessen the shakes.

This was cold.  This was invasive.  This was so, so wrong.  Why, why, why, why was this happening?

"P-Please... please stop..." 

"Just relax, your highness, it's alright. I just need to stretch you so I don't hurt you when I put it in.  I know that monster that kept you in his castle didn't do this, but please believe me when I say this will make you feel good."

"No... No, it's... Stop, stop, i-it hurts. It hurts..." Primus, it felt like the first time Megatron had started to finger her.  Even though he had been gentle and slow and trying to comfort her through it, she was just so tight and nervous and scared and confused and there was so much going on that she burst into tears.

But unlike that first time, where Megatron had stopped and held her until she was ready to go back to rubbing her clit and sweet kisses, there was no stopping here.  That dry, scratchy finger just kept pressing and rubbing and it hurt and she wanted it to stop.  Wanted to wake up and cuddle into Megatron and ask him to kiss her and make her forget with his words and kisses and hands and cock.

Eclipse could only cry when the finger pressed in further and she realized that this wasn't a nightmare she would ever wake up from.

Lugnut couldn’t believe this was happening. That he was actually a witness to it all, allowing his queen to suffer… and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He could only watch through his eyes the witch use his body to hurt Eclipse. To move his fingers inside her tight womanhood, which was actively resisting his fingers. His own body was being used to violate the queen…

And he could do nothing to stop it.

Enek continued to plant soft kisses over the poor queen’s face. The poor girl… This body was so big compared to hers. Would she really be able to handle it? But it was all she had to use. Perhaps she could find someone another person to use for the queen. Someone not so abnormally large or monstrous…

She would dwell on the matter later, once she had finished satisfying the queen first.

Slowly, she curled her finger inside the queen, twisting it gently and rubbing against her inner walls. She was still so tight… She needed to relax.

“Your Majesty,” she whispered. “You need to relax or else it will hurt.”

“J-Just take it out…!” the queen choked out, shaking her head violently. “T-Take it out…!”

“Relax.”

Eclipse realized she didn’t have much of a choice. The ogress was not going to stop, even if she begged and pleaded with her. Enek was going to see this through, even if she would have to spend hours on the foreplay. If she wanted this to end quickly, she would have to just listen to what the other said. Only then would the woman finally leave her and Lugnut alone…

Throwing her arms over her face, she forced herself to relax. She just wanted to get this over with… She knew what was going to happen to her. And nothing she or even Lugnut could do would stop it. Primus only knew if her husband was anywhere nearby… Looking for her, worrying for her…

She hoped he could forgive her and Lugnut for allowing things to come to this.

“Good, good, now just keep yourself relaxed…”

Eclipse shivered and whimpered as the large finger continued to wiggle inside of her. It felt disgusting, nothing like when Megatron or the real Lugnut actually touched her. Everything about this was wrong. Especially when the finger pressed deep inside of her, curling up against a sensitive bundle of nerves to make a small cry escape past her lips.

Everything. Everything was just so disgusting…

Enek smiled when she felt the queen loosen up a bit more, her finger growing wetter. Good, this was a good reaction. But she needed to get the little human to be dripping... Otherwise, she might tear her apart, even with magic to help her loosen up.

But what else could she do?  The Queen was getting wet and loose, but it wouldn't be enough. There had to be something else she could use to make her pussy open up more. So she wouldn't hurt her. But what-?!

Oh wait. She knew what.

Eclipse hissed when the finger was removed from her body, bringing down her arms as she panted hard. Why did she take it out? What had happened? She glanced up to see Lugnut's body move away from her, standing up and walking over to the bathroom.

"I'll be right back, Your Majesty," Enek said, not turning to look at her as she disappeared inside the adjacent room.

The queen looked between the bathroom and the bedroom door. Was this a chance to escape? A chance to run away? But where would she hide? And even if she could lock herself away somewhere inside the manor, Enek had control of Lugnut's body. She could just use it to break down whatever door she could manage to lock. Or just use magic, whatever the ogress thought would be easiest. Still, despite her mind screaming at her it was fruitless, Eclipse forced her weak body to sit up and shuffle to the side of the bed, ready to make a run for the door.

Enek came back before she could stand up, only this time with a blue bottle in hand. Eclipse's eyes widened in fright. Oh Primus, what was that?!

She gasped when the other came over to her, kneeling down in front of her as she frozen remained on the bed. Enek set down the bottle before she took a hold of Eclipse's thighs. The queen gasped and struggled for a moment, though it was futile as Enek easily moved her legs over Lugnut's shoulders, giving her a full front row view of her wet pussy.

Her cheeks turned red, humiliated that someone other than her husband was seeing this. It was even worse than the time she had lost her virginity in front of everything... At least during that time, they had only been looking. Only her husband had touched her... No one else could but him and sometimes Lugnut when she allowed it.

"Pl-Please..." Eclipse whimpered, holding her shaking hands to her chest. "Pl-Please, M-Miss Enek... L-Let me go..."

"It's alright.  I have something here that will help you feel better."

"No... No, please..."

"It's alright.  It's nothing like what you're captor claimed to have. This makes me feel good when I need to take care of myself and now you'll feel as good as I do."

Primus, Enek thought, Her Majesty would be feeling what she felt when she was alone and needy those lonely nights and had to take care of it herself.  But unlike her, Her Majesty would never need to feel that.  Never have to cry and care for herself in her tower after that bastard king discarded her after using her. 

Did he even allow her to do that? Or did he tie her up so she didn't use herself up before the next time he need a fuck?  Or was he so cruel as to make it that she couldn't find pleasure herself?  Perhaps a chastity belt that he only had the keys to?

That monster... Queen Eclipse should have never been with him in the first place.

But that was the past.  Enek smiled as she spread the lubricant onto the giant fingers of the ogre she was possessing... yes, this would be more than enough.

Eclipse felt the slippery finger at her entrance again and bit her lip.  Primus, she was going to put it back in again.  No, no... she had to stop this...

Her hands reached out to try and push the other's, Lugnut's, head away, but she was so weak from fear that she couldn't even push the other back a smidgen. It didn't even seem like Enek noticed her resisting and easily slipped the finger back into her pussy, causing Eclipse to gasp and buck her hips, accidentally drawing the slick cold digit in deeper.

"Ngh...!"

Enek paused, looking up at her with worry. "Are you all right, Your Majesty?"

"P-Pull...!" Eclipse struggled to capture her breath, still squirming at the feel of the finger back inside of her. Primus, what was that lubricant?! It was so cold and it made her insides tingle... "P-Pull it out...! Out-!"

"Shh, it's all right," Enek insisted, leaning down to plant a kiss to her thigh. "This will make it better. I promise."

She didn't want it to be better. She just wanted it out of her! She wanted Enek to leave her alone, to let Lugnut go, let them both go home... But instead, she was trapped there, Enek forced in between her legs with her finger inside of her. And as the finger began to curl up in her again, spreading around that sticky lubricant...

Her toes curled, a weird heat starting to bubble in her lower half. Eclipse held her hands to her chest, tilting back her head as she started to pant. What was going on? Why was she starting to feel... warmer? And her pussy... Was it getting wetter?

"Wh-What... What's-!  What's happening to me!"

"See, it feels good, right? Doesn't it, my Queen?"

"N-N-No..." No, this wasn't right! This wasn't- What was happening to her?! She wasn't suppose to be enjoying this! She was supposed to hate what this... what this ogress was doing to her! 

"It's my own special mix," Enek whispered, smiling when she felt more of Eclipse's sweet fluids trickle out of her pussy. "It will make you really wet in a matter of minutes... It makes it easier to cum too."

No, no! She didn't want that! Anything but that!

Eclipse could only whimper and moan out as the finger stretched her out even more. Her entire body started to heat up, her pussy getting wetter and wetter the more Enek played with it. This couldn't be happening... She shouldn't have been enjoying this. She should have been getting aroused! And yet... her pussy was starting to spasming and ripple around the thick finger. It didn't even hurt anymore, even when she squeezed her insides. 

This was the worst. Everything about this was wrong... Why wouldn't she just leave her alone?!

Enek stopped when she noticed the Queen's entrance getting wetter and slicker.  Good. Good, she was feeling good now. That was a relief. She was afraid of what else she could do if this didn't work.  But now the Queen was relaxing and feeling her love.

That was when she decided to add in another finger. The more stretched out she was, the better it would feel for her when she finally used this ogre's organ to make the Queen feel pleasure for the first time in her life.

That extra finger did not go unnoticed by Eclipse. "NO!  No, no... please don't-!"

Enek gentle shushed her and kissed her thigh again as she spread the two fingers inside her Highness.  Poor dear.  It was all so new to her.  So foreign from the pain she had suffered for so long.

It wasn't long before Eclipse was dripping and a third finger was added.  Eclipse's hands had come up to hold her head as she begged and prayed for this to end. No... No... Primus... please stop this. Let Lugnut break free. Let Megatron come save her. Someone... anyone... Help her... help her...

Lugnut was certain he was hoarse. He couldn't hear himself screaming, but he was certain he had been pleading with the witch. Not that she couldn't hear him. He didn't know, he had no idea what he was capable of in this dark space he was trapped in. He could see, feel, and know what exactly was happening on that bed.

But he could do nothing.  The guard could do absolutely nothing to stop the witch from hurting Eclipse even more.

"You're so small, Your Highness. I need to add one more finger so you're properly stretched."

Lugnut could only feel his stomach drop as he heard Eclipse beg for mercy, pleading for Enek to leave her alone, only to scream in agony (both her and himself) when Enek forced a fourth finger into the Queen's pussy.

Primus... Primus... please... please stop this. He didn't care if he never got his body back or if he never saw Eclipse again.  Just please make this stop!

Eclipse felt like her insides were going to be split open. It was too full, too stuffed, too much... Tears developed in the corners of her eyes as her stomach clenched, twitching and shivering as the four fingers slowly curled inside of her. It was too tight, her insides were twitching... She could only let out heavy gasps, hands flinching as she arched her back.

And yet, she was still getting wet. She still felt hot. And no matter how she did, the feeling wouldn't go away. Even though Enek's touches made her want to vomit, she couldn't stop the heated pleasure from taking over her lower half. It made the tears spill from her eyes and down her cheeks. She just wanted this to end already.

Lugnut felt his spine to liquid when he saw Eclipse start to shake hard beneath his body, tears trickling out of her eyes. And yet, Enek continued to use his fingers to spread Eclipse open, not even paying attention to the look of horror on her face. He was begging, screaming for Enek to listen to him. To stop. He would admit everything, admit to every false sin she said he had made, if it would just get her to stop. Primus, he would even kill himself if that was what she wanted. Just so long as she stopped touching Eclipse and left her alone!

But the witch wasn't listening to anyone right now. She was too focused on how Eclipse's pussy was loosening up, spasming and clenching around her fingers. They were soaked at this point, some of the queen's fluids even sliding onto her hand. Good.. The queen was reacting quite well to her lubricant. It shouldn't hurt if she put the ogre's organ inside her now... 

No, no. Not yet. She get impatient. As much as she wanted to feel Eclipse around her, this wasn't about her pleasure. It was about Eclipse's. And she hadn't even orgasmed yet! There was no way she could have sex with her without giving her an orgasm first. That would have just been selfish... And Eclipse had dealt with her husband's selfishness long enough. 

She finally pulled out her fingers, causing Eclipse's entire body to spasm before slumping onto the bed. Her hands clawed at the sheets, panting hard as she tried to gather her surroundings. Primus... Primus, she just wanted to be done with it already. She just wanted to go back home, be with the man she loved... Everything about this was awful. Horrible. Just make it stop already...

Eclipse gasped when she felt hot breath against her womanhood. Two large hands grabbed her thighs and held them apart, a head firmly stuck in between them. She jerked up and paled when she saw Lugnut's lips just an inch away from her sticky, stretched womanhood, his eyes bright and dancing with glee.

No, not Lugnut's eyes... Those were Enek's.

"Pl-Pl-Please...! M-Mi-Miss Enek, n-no more-!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I won't let you suffer." Then she pressed Lugnut's lips against her pussy, his long and thick tongue easily pushing inside.

Eclipse threw back her head and screamed, her hands shooting down to grip his hair tightly. No! No, not this! Lugnut would do this to her so many times before and it always felt amazing... But this wasn't her Lugnut. This wasn't the ogre who cherished her and took care of her needs when her husband wasn't there. And yet, it was his body, his tongue... Enek was defiling everything. Her body, her senses, her memories...

"S-Stop!" she cried. "Please stop! L-Lugnut! Lugnut!"

He couldn't help her.  He was stuck watching, tasting... feeling ready to vomit if only he had a gag reflex.  Why... Why couldn't this witch see that Eclipse didn't want this?!  She was screaming, begging her to stop.  Why, why, why?! Why wouldn't she just let her go already?!

And to make it all worse, he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't protect her. He could only watch and feel what Enek felt, which made him sick to his stomach. He just wanted to save his queen... but he couldn't even do that.

Enek was beside herself, lips locked with Eclipse's labia as she used Lugnut's tongue to wiggle around inside the queen's sloppy pussy. Primus... Primus, she was so sweet and soft and delicious. She was gushing out fluids, the sweet nectar pouring into the mouth she had control over. It was divine. It made her eat the queen out more hungrily than before, wiggling the tongue and stretching out as far as she could inside of the other, slurping down whatever trickled out.

Eclipse could feel it. The tongue running up against her inner walls, the shocks shooting up her spine whenever Enek brushed against the sensitive parts inside of her. It wouldn't stop. And she could feel a tightness build up inside of her. The same tightness that would build up when she was going to orgasm.

She didn't want it. She didn't want to make the ogress believe she was enjoying herself. This was so wrong and disgusting and awful... And no one was going to save her either. Lugnut couldn't because of the witch. Her husband couldn't because he had no idea where she was. He didn't even know that this was being done to her...

"Pl-Please...!" she choked out. "N-No...! N-No more...! No more...!"

Enek couldn't even hear her through all the slurping.

Eclipse's toes curled when the tight feeling in her stomach grew. Oh Primus, she couldn't stop it... All the queen could do was tilt back her head and shut her eyes tightly, holding back a small moan when she suddenly came into Enek's mouth. It wasn't a strong orgasm, nothing like when Megatron or Lugnut were touching her. It was more just instinct as the fluids squirted out of her. It didn't even feel good... She felt dirty and sick to her stomach.

Not that Enek noticed or even cared. She pulled back from Eclipse's pussy, licking the excess fluids from her lips. Yes... Yes, there it was. There was the pleasure Eclipse hadn't experienced before. The look on her face said it all: she wasn't familiar with such gentle and devoted touches. She was so used to being forced to give that she didn't know how to accept what was being given to her in return...

But Enek would teach her what real love was. And now that she was wet and stretched out properly, Eclipse was more than ready to accept the love she desperately wanted to give the human.  

Eclipse tried to curl up on herself, but those hands... oh those hands that felt so wrong and sick.  She couldn't stop them from pressing her body open and opening her legs to that witch again.

"There, there.  It'll get better."

"No…" No it wouldn't. She... this ogress had made her cum against her will.  With her best friend's body.  "No, please..."

"We're almost done.  We're about to finish it up." Enek pulled herself up to press the Queen's bare vulva.  "Let me just get ready."

Eclipse blinked out tears as she watched Lugnut's body take off its shirt.  Then they reached down to pull down Lugnut's pants-

"NO!" Eclipse tried to crawl away on her side, but large hands stopped her.  "NO! NO, NO, NO~!"

"It's alright, your Highness. It's just me.  I'm not your horrible husband and his sadistic guard. I'm just going to get ready-"

"NO~! HELP ME! HELP ME!" She couldn't-! She couldn't be-! No, no, not like this! She didn’t want it to be like this!

Desperate, Eclipse turned over on her stomach and forced herself on her hands and knees, slowly starting to crawl away. She had to run. She had to escape and hide somewhere! She couldn't let Enek done this!

Large hands suddenly took a hold of her hips, keeping her in place. The queen tensed up, feeling the other's huge form come over her, her back to the well-toned chest... Tears started pouring down faster and she started to shake. The trembling only grew worse than she felt that thick mushroom head poke at her wet entrance.

"Pl-Pl-Please...!" Eclipse whimpered out, eyes wide in terror as she gripped the sheets tightly. "D-Don't do this...! Please don't do this!"

"Here I come, Your Majesty."

Eclipse felt it. Slowly but surely, that thick head that had entered her many times before was starting to push in... This time against her will. This time, the head not belonging to Lugnut, but to the woman possessing him. To the madwoman who claimed to love her and was now forcing her to do this... And with her best friend's body too. Her voice had caught in her throat, so even when she opened her mouth to scream, no sound came out. Her mouth remained agape as tears trickled down onto the sheets beneath her.

"Primus, y-you're so tight...!"

Her breath hitched, but Eclipse still didn't scream. Only more tears fell, her entire body slowly turning to jelly the more Enek pushed inside of her. It felt so wrong... Her body was being forced open, forced to bear this huge thing piercing her pussy with no regard as to how she felt about it.

Her eyes drifted up to the bars on the windows. This... This was what Megatron had originally saved her from. Megatron and Lugnut had came to her room all those years ago and spirited her away to their kingdom, to spare of a fate doomed to be imprisoned in a room and used as some sort of sex doll.

She should have known. Even though so much time had passed, she should have known it was too good to be true. This fate, this lifestyle... She was a human of royal blood. This was what she was supposed to be. Just a pretty groomed lady for someone to use as they pleased, imprisoned by them until they grew bored... Primus had just been toying her. Giving her a good life for those five years, allowing her to be happy with her husband and her friends...

He let her have it, just so he could take it away and remind her of her place in this life. Something she could never escape again.

Her voice finally cracked through when she pressed in all the way, slumping down into the sheets in a whimpering, shaking heap. Enek panted hard, her hands gripping the queen's hips tightly in an attempt to steady herself. Primus, Eclipse was tight... her pussy was clenching hard around her, inner walls pulsing and shivering around her. Even though she was this wet...

Taking a deep breath, Enek moved a hand to rub over her back. "It's all right, my Queen... Just take a deep breath and relax. It'll feel really good soon."

Eclipse only whimpered as the hand ran down her spine. No, no... this wasn't like Lugnut. This wasn't her friend. This wasn't her husband. Someone was inside of her. Just make it stop, just make it stop...

"Deep breaths, your Highness. Just breathe..."

No, no... Eclipse just wanted this to be over with. Please, just... why couldn't the ogress just finish and leave her alone?

"Your Highness-"

Holding back tears when she realized that she would have to do what her... what the witch was saying, the Queen took a deep breath in.

"And out."

And then released it.

"Good, good... It's all right, My Queen. You'll feel good soon enough."

Whimpered moans were all that answered her as Eclipse buried her head into the sheets further, trying her hardest to block out the harsh reality that was settling in around her.

No one was going to save her. No one was going to help her. Even if Megatron found out where she was, there was no way he would stop this in time.

Enek could feel her breath getting faster. This body was reacting faster than she originally thought.  But it-she couldn't help it.  Her Majesty was so warm and so tight.  And she was making such soft and quiet moans. 

This was probably so much for her. To be treated tenderly with slow, gentle touches... The poor girl was probably overwhelmed with emotions.

"I'm going to pull out now, Your Majesty."

Primus, please let it be over, Eclipse thought as she whimpered into the sheets, her grip tightening as the large cock slowly left her pussy.

But she only pulled out to turn her onto her back again, easily slipping right back in. Eclipse gasped, her toes curling when the large body suddenly pressed against her tiny one and held her tightly to the firm chest.

"There... Just hold me to ground yourself. I'll do all the work."

Eclipse shook as she was forced to hold the other. She wanted to claw into her back, but she didn't want to hurt Lugnut. Did he even know what was happening? Was he even conscious for this? She wanted to call out to him, hoping that maybe, just maybe... He could hear her. And he could break free of Enek's control and save her.

But she couldn't even bring herself to speak. She just held on as commanded, whimpering and grunting as the ogress started to gently thrust into her tiny pussy. A weird feeling shot up her spine. It was... not pleasure, but not pain either. It was just a strange tingling sensation that made her hot and made her pussy spasm, causing Enek to groan into her ear.

"Primus, Your Majesty... Forgive me, but you feel so good..."

Eclipse didn't respond. She kept her eyes locked on the ceiling, tears still trickling down her face as she prayed for it end soon. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. She just wanted Enek to let her go... She wanted her best friend back. She wanted the real Lugnut to hold her, to comfort her, to protect her... Her tears fell faster, closing her eyes as Enek's thrusts increased in speed.

Lugnut felt sick to his stomach. If he had control over his own body, he would have been shaking by now. Enek... was raping Eclipse. She was raping the queen with his body. And he could feel and see everything, but do nothing to stop any of it. He could only watch in horror as Eclipse continued to slightly cry, whimpering with each thrust.

He had... failed. Both her and his king. He had failed to protect the woman he loved, the wife of his king. A king he had been loyal to since first coming under his command. The man he had sworn to protect, the man he had sworn his life that he would protect him... and his beloved human wife.

He failed to protect her. And had allowed his own body to be used against her, to be used to force her and use her like some sort of toy. No matter how much he struggled to free himself from Enek's spell, he couldn't. He could only watch and feel his body thrust into Eclipse over and over again, her tiny pussy clenching around his cock as her hands twitched against his back.

And to make it all worse, he could feel it. His body - the witch - was about to cum. Inside of her. And there was nothing he could do.

Enek was losing herself. It just felt so amazing... Having sex like this? With the woman she had loved and been watching for nearly a year now? With her tight womanhood spasming around her, soft little moans escaping past her sweet lips? It was truly heaven... All she could do was thrust into her more and more, kissing her neck to draw more sweet cries from her.

She could feel her lower half grow stiffer. She was definitely ready to cum... But would it be right for her cum inside the queen? Megatron had dirtied her womb enough... And this wasn't her body, but the guard's. Surely Eclipse didn't want to be burdened with the seed of this bastard guard. But it just felt so good, she found it hard to pull out of that warm cavern. Oh Primus, she needed to make a choice...

But as she kept thrusting, she felt the Queen's hands tighten on her back.  Oh... yes, right.  The poor Queen had to deal with that bastard taking her every night, raping her without abandon and then leaving his seed inside. 

It would probably be best if she didn't, at least not now.  Once the Queen better knew what real love was like, she would ask about it.

Now though, despite how good her Majesty felt, Enek pulled out and struggled to catch her breath as she pulled off of Eclipse, only to wrap a hand around the ogre's cock and stroke at it. It didn't take long for her to cum, seed shooting out and onto the queen's stomach. Eclipse didn't react, still shaking on the bed.

Enek panted hard, trying to collect herself. So that... that was what it felt like.  So warm and inviting and comforting... Oh, how the poor Queen had suffered under that bastard's sadistic ways for so long. A bastard who only cared about himself and his own needs, never worrying or thinking about hers.

Oh wait. She still needed to tend to hers too...

Eclipse moved to hug herself tightly when Enek pulled away from her, shaking violently on the bed with tears in her eyes. Was it over? The sticky hot feeling on her stomach told her it was... And then she felt fingers at her clit. She hissed and shut her eyes tightly, legs twitching when they rolled over the sensitive red bud.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I'll make you cum..."

She didn't want to. She just wanted to crawl under the covers and forget this entire thing had ever happened. Just act like it was some sort of horrible nightmare... A very realistic and painful nightmare that she could never escape from.

Enek forced another orgasm out of her, Eclipse letting out small sobs as she came onto the thick digits. The ogress made a soft face. The poor dear was so overwhelmed by it... Then again, that was her first real experience of love. It was probably jarring for her. She wasn't accustomed to it. At least not yet, anyway. After a few more sessions like this, she would be used to it. Eclipse would understand what love really was then.

"My Queen, are you alright?"

Eclipse whimpered and turned away.

"My Queen, do you-"

"Bath."

"O-Of course," Right, the Queen must have been falling back on her old coping mechanisms after being with the Ogre King for so long.  "I'll draw you up a bath."

"Lugnut-" 

Enek paused getting up.  "I-I beg your pardon, your Majesty?"

"L-Lugnut... Lugnut... I want Lugnut to draw me a bath."

"... Is this form not best-?"

" _I want the real Lugnut_!"

Enek stepped back off the bed from the shout. She- Her Majesty wanted the guard to serve her?  But...But why-?

Oh... perhaps he was the one who was assigned to help her clean up after that tyrant used her.  To prepare her for next time.

No, she should be the one to do it. Having that ogre around would only make her worse.  She needed to be comforted and loved by her lover in her proper body.

"I-I think it might be-"

" _I want Lugnut_!" the queen screamed, much like a toddler begging for their mother. " _I order you to let Lugnut draw me a bath_!"

Primus, the Queen was regressing. Damn it, she didn't want her Majesty to have panic attacks after they had come so far.

...Perhaps it might be best.  A few spells to prevent the ogre from doing any harm and that would be it.  Besides, this body would be too tired to do anything at the moment. 

"Very well, your Majesty. I will leave him to do your bidding.”

And with a nod of her head, Lugnut's body collapsed to the floor of the bedroom. On his hands and knees, coughing hard and panting like a madman, Lugnut shook hard as he tried to keep himself stable. He had his body back, he could move it now, no one else was in his subconscious… 

And he could very much feel just how wet and sticky his privates and his hands were.

His breath caught in his throat and he almost gagged, but he forced himself to hold it in. No, Eclipse… She had had him released so he could give her a bath. The witch must have returned to her own body. Which meant he could use this chance to escape. He could pick Eclipse up and they could find a way out of here!

But his body wouldn’t move. Even though he had full control over it again, he couldn’t stand up. His entire body felt like a tank. A naked, sticky tank… His arms started to shake, especially when he heard the queen shuffle on the bed and whimper out, “L-L-Lug… L-Lugnut…?”

He couldn’t look at her. Not after failing to protect her. He let the witch use him to… to violate her. And he just watched it happen, like some weak and spineless little boy. He failed his queen… he failed to protect his queen, to protect the woman he loved…

Both the queen and the guard could hear footsteps rushing up the stairs. He finally forced himself to look up at the door when he heard Eclipse gasp in fright, grabbing the sheets to hide herself. His hands balled into fists. This was all that bitch's fault... Everything... She did all of this... He would kill her for what she had done. He swore... If it was the last thing he would ever do, so be it. He would kill her and enjoy every second of it.

The door suddenly opened, the witch standing there. Eclipse flinched back, cowering behind the sheets. Lugnut just glared at her, teeth gritting together. This madwoman... This selfish, disgusting witch!

Enek seemed to sense his wrath and quickly brought up a hand. He froze, a spasm ripping through him. He feared for a moment that she was going to possess him again, but it was only a hot feeling that came through. Not that numbing, horrible cold that came over him when she possessed him.

"Do as she commanded, dog," Enek said. "Make sure Her Majesty is given a proper bath while I change her sheets. And if you attempt to do anything to her, I will see you suffer."

He almost said something when they heard Eclipse sniffle.

"Oh dear... Your Majesty-" Enek ran over to the woman still in the bed.  "Is something wrong?  Do you want me to send him back-?"

"NO!"

"... I see. I apologize then, Your Majesty. Let me get you to the bath first-"

But Eclipse quickly moved out of the way of Enek's arm's reach, forcing herself off the bed to stand on the floor. She winched when she stood on her own two feet, Lugnut flinching back at the pain on her face. But she kept her lips pressed tightly together, holding a blanket around herself tightly, before limping her way into the bathroom. 

Lugnut finally forced himself to follow, grabbing his disregarded clothes along the way. With shaking hands, he forced himself to dress before moving into the bathroom with Eclipse, shutting the door behind him.

He could see Eclipse out of the corner of his eye, sitting on the floor and hugging herself tightly. Her blanket had fallen off of her when she buried her face into her knees, crying softly to herself. He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to hold her and tell her it was going to be all right. That he would protect her. 

But instead, he turned away from her and moved to start her bath. As if he could say such things to her. Such lies... He couldn't protect her. It wasn't going to be all right. The witch... had just used her. Used his body to hurt her. And he did nothing to stop it. He just let it happen, screaming in his mind to make it stop. But it didn't stop. She had to suffer... from his own hands.

He couldn't face her. Not like this.

He could only turn on the water and silently let his tears fall, unable to do anything for the queen as she sobbed on the floor.


	16. Chapter 16

Novabomb sighed as he slumped onto a rock. His head hurt and he had run out of those sweet breads from that baker boy hours ago.

"Here." He looked up to see Bloodshed offering one that he had bought as well.  "Get your headache in check, we still have more searching to do today."

The blue-haired soldier bit into the sweet bread before chewing on it slowly.  It was hard to stay uplifting with a headache from trying to sense magic non-stop for who knows how long and all the time they've been out here.

It had been... oh, probably a week and a half since the Queen and Lugnut had gone missing.  And as far as Novabomb knew, no one had found anything of them other than the trail he had uncovered just afterwards.

Morale was not so good.  Since no one had found toe or scraps of the Queen or her guard, everyone was on edge.  Every day, people began fearing the worse.  Novabomb liked to think that there might be a chance, but Nebula had made it worse when she told him that if they had heard of the Queen being spotted being taken into Optimus's Kingdom, Shockwave's spies would have known and Megatron would have been planning an invasion to get her back.

So since they were still doing the same shit as they had been for the past 10-ish days or so, there had been no sighting. Which meant they still had to be in the mountains somewhere.

Novabomb wanted to believe that they were alive. They had to be. There couldn't have been out here all this time only to find the two dead from having been held for so long.

If whoever took her wanted to kill her to hurt the King, then wouldn't they have done it before?  Why wait?  It... It just didn't make any sense.

"Hey Novabomb."

"Yeah Bloodshed?"

"Does..." He hesitated for a bit. "You told me back when you first found that trail that magic could make you look past something, right?"

"Yeah, it can."

"And the trail had that?"

"It did, but I was able to look past it and see that someone had been there."

Bloodshed nodded before looking around. Nebula and the others with them had sat down to get some water, having found nothing of the Queen, her guard, or someone having camped out here.  They had to huddle up because the forest was so dense and thick with trees that going too far away from the others would only get them lost.

"And then you lost the trail because it faded?"

"Sigh... Because the magic used was to erase the trail, but since that's very powerful magic, it takes time. So to counteract the long period of time it would take to erase it, the mage had made people unable to see it to give it time to fade away."

"Shit..." Bloodshed muttered. "Shit..."

"But it's very powerful and it would take a lot of magic and stuff to keep doing it for long-"

"Damn it, Nova, it's been twelve days already!" Nebula groaned from her spot.  "If they've been moving non-stop, we've already lost their trail!"

"N-No, we haven't!  N-No one has seen them going into Optimus's kingdom."

"And who’s to say they didn't use magic to sneak past Shockwave's spies and all to keep going east?"

That didn't lessen the somber tension at all.

"We... T-They wouldn't have-!"

"They wouldn't?  What, you think this is all just some game of hide and seek with the King's wife?" Nebula shouted.  "Some fucking assholes kidnapped her and took off! What makes you think they're gonna sit around and wait for us to find them before saying 'sorry, we didn't mean to' and then handing her over!"

"I didn't-!  I'm just saying they might still be hiding in the mountains and we'll find them-!"

"Yeah, and then what?!" Nebula got up to advance on him, "You think they'll just give up that easily after kidnapping the Queen of the Ogre Kingdom?!  That's they'll just lay down their weapons and surrender?"

"I just-"

"Oh just shut up!" Nebula kicked him in the side, causing him to drop his half-eaten sweet bread as he fell to the floor.

"Nebula!" Bloodshed called out. "Knock it off!"

"What?  He's the one making stupid comments!"

"Nebula, we're all tired and exhausted. Just let it be and-"

"What the fuck?"

Both turned to Novabomb as he glanced at the woods.

"What?"

"Novabomb, what's the matter?"

"There's... something." Novabomb lifted his head to glance at the woods again before putting it down. "But it's... it wasn't there before."

They watched as he got up to slowly crawl over the path they stopped taking back into the woods.

"Novabomb?" Bloodshed called out to him. "Novabomb?"

"Shit, has he fucking lost it or something?"

They heard nothing as the blue-haired man shuffled around in the bush for a bit.

"Okay, I think he hit his head too hard. Bloodshed, you need to send him back-"

"I found a trail!"

Both turned back to see his head pop up from the bushes like a rabbit.

"You what?"

"You found a trail?"

"Yeah!" Novabomb went back to the ground to crawl after this imaginary trail.  "I don't know why I didn't see it before, but here it is and the magic is just everywhere." 

"How the fuck did you not see this when we walked by it fifteen minutes ago?"

"I don't know?"

"Guys, just-" Bloodshed got between them before Nebula decided the best course of action was to punch Novabomb out. "Novabomb, follow it. We'll follow after you. And Nebula-"

"I ain't sticking around to watching his ass while he sniffs out a trail, I'm out of here." Nebula turned to head back to the main camp.

"Send more food and water. Who knows how long this trail is and long we'll be looking for it."

"Will do!"

As Nebula left, Bloodshed and the others followed after Novabomb as he traveled further into the woods.


	17. Chapter 17

Eclipse couldn't feel anything. At least, she hadn't felt anything for a few days now. All she could do was lie on her bed and stare up at the ceiling. Sometimes she would sleep all day. Sometimes she would cry. Sometimes she would scratch at her arms. Most times though, she would just lie there and stare up at nothing. 

It hadn't been just that one time. A little over a week had gone by since that... awful night. She thought that would be the end of that. She thought that Enek would have had her fun, found some sort of relief, and never bother her or Lugnut again.

She had been wrong.

Ever since that night, Enek was more touching. It didn't matter if she was using Lugnut's body or her own. She touched her. Frivolously. Gently. It made her sick to her stomach. Her skin crawled whenever that woman put her hands on her. It didn't matter how many times she had said or how many times she begged her to stop; Enek wouldn't listen to her.

Because she loved her.

Eclipse could feel more tears trickling down the side of her cheeks again. Enek had just left her again, after using Lugnut's body once more to enjoy her own. Now she was on the bed, cold and naked with cum on her stomach and thighs. At least she wasn't using Lugnut to cum inside of her. At least she had that much decency...

The queen turned her head to look at the large figure sitting on the ground. Lugnut. The real one. Hers. He was sitting in the corner, naked as she was, huddled up with his face buried into his hands. He was crying too, shivering and shaking as his nails dug into his skin. She wanted to tell him to stop, but she didn't have the strength.

He mentioned it once, when Enek gave them this moment of peace. When he was allowed to be near her without Enek anywhere in sight, when he didn't have to worry about being hurt by her again... He had told the queen the truth: everything Enek did to her, he could see it. He could feel it. He just couldn't stop it.

Eclipse didn't blame him. If anything, when she told him that, it made her cry harder each time the ogress forced herself on her. She knew what Lugnut felt for her. She knew he would give his life to protect her, even if she begged him not to. It was awful enough she had to suffer through that torture every night... why did the ogress have to put Lugnut through it too?

With tears still in her eyes, Eclipse forced herself to sit up. She needed a bath. She just wanted to wash herself of this. Pretend to be clean for a while before the entire nightmare started over again. Maybe tomorrow wouldn't be as bad. Enek had done it five times that night; that wasn't counting the time this morning where she fingered her and ate her out after breakfast. Maybe Enek would give her a break, just to rest for a day...

But it was Enek, so it was probably stupid of her to wish for such things.

"... Lugnut?"

The guard flinched back.

"... Please. I... I want a bath."

Despite the trauma he was under, Lugnut wiped the tears from his eyes and tried to calm himself down. Slowly, he rose to his feet, tears still in the corners of his bloodshot eyes, using the wall to steady himself. Even though he had been through so much too... he was still following her orders. Because she was his queen and he would always serve her.

"Y-Y-Yes... M-Miss... Eclipse..."

The queen slowly stood up. She would have asked Lugnut to carry her, but... she didn't want him to touch her. And he didn't want to touch her either. They couldn't. Enek had forced it. Once. When she had seen that Eclipse had trouble walking to the bathroom after one session, she had Lugnut carry her since Eclipse didn't want Enek to touch her.

But Eclipse was shaking like a leaf the entire time. His hands against her skin made her feel sick to her stomach. Even though Enek had been the one doing everything... She used his body. His touch. And it made her sick.

And Lugnut, once he had put her down, had actually thrown up. Lugnut couldn't stand touching her. His body was used to defile her; he couldn't protect her from his own body. How could he touch her? He wasn't worthy... He shouldn't have even been allowed near her.

They couldn't touch each other. Not anymore. Not after what had been happening every night...

They heard something break downstairs. Neither of them were surprised, even when they heard more things being mashed and broken despite closing the bathroom door and turning on the water. This had been going on for a while now. Enek started randomly breaking things when no one was around. Enek's house was becoming much more messy too, with the exception of her room and the dinning room.  Eclipse wasn't sure why, just believing the woman to be growing more and more insane. 

Lugnut knew could guess why though. The witch mumbled to herself a lot, about how Eclipse was "getting worse" and how she needed to know "what to do, what to do" as she paced. Her magic was more erratic too, though not around Eclipse thankfully. Sometimes things would just randomly set on fire. And other times, when she was trying to control him, he actually could fight her off. For a little bit, she still overpowered him in the end...

But he shook himself of such thoughts when the bath was ready. He watched as Eclipse sat town in the tub, only to respectfully turn away once she was settled.

Seeing his back hurt. But Eclipse couldn't bring herself to say anything to him, instead looking down at her arms. There were still plenty of red spots from where she had scratched herself. One time she had scratched so hard she had drawn blood. Lugnut had freaked out so badly that he actually forced himself to touch her, to pull her hands away from herself and begged her not to. He had been crying and pleading and just...

He was so broken. And she felt the same. 

"... I just want to go home."

Lugnut didn't reply, but she knew he heard her by the flinching of his back. 

"... If we can't... will you-?"

"Miss Eclipse."

Eclipse stopped.

"... I... I can't. Please don't ask me again."

"... I'm sorry." 

But he didn't reply, his shoulders starting to shake. She had made him cry again, which in turn made her cry too as she buried her face into her hands.

She couldn't keep doing this... She couldn't stand being here. And to live here forever? No... No, she couldn't do that. To be trapped in this prison, being raped every night by some madwoman, never to see her husband and her friends again? She couldn't. She would rather die. And if Lugnut wasn't going to help her...

She would have to just do it herself.


	18. Chapter 18

"Megatron, I know the situation is dire, but we can't just-"

"Bombrush," Megatron unsheathed his sword, "It's been two weeks since my wife was snatched off the path, been held hostage, and other than this location, we have no idea if they're alive or hurt or in worse condition."

Bombrush knew his old friend was ready to snap, but this restrain temper was making him very nervous.  Megatron could bottle up his emotions, but for this level of control...

Megatron wasn't in control.  He was fucking furious and ready to go charging in and killing everyone to get his wife back.  How he didn't look the part of the madman was beyond Bombrush's understanding, but it was more likely that despite his desperation half a month in to find his wife, he knew the risks and consequences of letting the desperation control him now that they had finally found the kidnappers.

Still, that didn't mean charging in with only twenty men was the best idea.

"We don't know how many people are in there, let alone how many of them are mages.  Bombrush, if you wait another half and hour, we can double our numbers before we storm the area."

"Novabomb is certain there is only one mage. Unless only the one has been using magic all this time, he says there's no doubt that the one mage has been using magic to hide this place the entire time.  Apparently two weeks is too long for one mage to keep at the same spell repeatedly."

"But we still don't know if they have any companions with them or if they're even armed."

"Enough!"

Bombrush and even the guards getting ready around them stopped.  Several stopped sharpening their swords, Nebula dropped her glove, and Novabomb dropped the extra sweet bread he had gotten.

"... When this battalion is ready, we will charge in, rescue my wife and guard, and kill anyone who doesn't surrender. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" Everyone went back getting ready while Bombrush watched his friend.

He couldn't go against orders. And Megatron had a point. If they didn't do something quickly, the kidnappers might notice them and resort to something drastic. Novabomb said the magic keeping them from finding this place had gotten sloppy, but he wasn't sure if there was any magic up ahead to warn that someone was coming. 

Bloodshed soon joined up with them. "What did you find?" Megatron asked.

"No other signs of entry other than this hidden alcove.  It's impossible to say if there is another escape route until we get inside, but unless it goes deep underground, I can reasonable say they're trapped in there."

One point of entry.  So hiding out had been their only option, then once they saw the army coming in, who knows how they would react.

But Megatron knew there was no time for that. His wife-!  Eclipse had been in their hands for two weeks and there was no telling what sort of harm had come to her.  And if there hadn't on the sole chance of a ransom or payment to take her alive to someone, who knows what they would do to her if her kidnappers were cornered.

"Get ready men!" All soldiers and guards drew their swords.  "We move in a steady formation until we see inside.  Then I want everyone to spread out to prevent any escapes. If you're attacked, kill them. If they surrender, knock them out hard. Do not harm my Queen or her guard. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Now move!"

And so the King, his General, and eighteen soldiers entered the small entrance in the mountain side.

* * *

Enek was washing dishes. Not because she had to, but rather because she needed to do something to distract herself with. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried... Eclipse wasn't improving. If anything, she was gradually getting worse and worse with each passing day.

When they had sex, she wouldn't even react. She just lied there, motionless with small whimpers escaping past her lips. She cried and slept often. She would hardly eat either. Much like this morning. The queen hardly touched her food. She simply played with it, poking at it with her fork. Enek had to threaten her to eat, telling her she would force her to eat it if she didn't. Eclipse had eaten, yes, but then she started to cry shortly after.

At least that dog wasn't resisting her as much anymore. His spirit must have been breaking... He didn't seem to have much will to fight anymore, for whatever reason. She had also caught him sobbing a few times down in the basement. Perhaps he was worried what his king would do to him for his failures. She didn't care too much about him. The worthless creature didn't deserve her concern.

Besides, she needed to worry about the queen. She was currently in the lounge room, lying on a couch as she stared up at the ceiling. Fortunately she was no longer crying... But that didn't mean her just lying there motionless was anything good either. She had to do something... She had to help her...

The ogress stopped, suddenly feeling a shiver down her back. Odd. It wasn't cold in here... And she could feel no draft. Where had that tingle down her spine come from? She looked up and peered out the window.

The plate she had in her hands fell to the floor, shattering upon impact. She had to grip the counter tightly to keep herself from falling down, wrapped in horror and disbelief. It shouldn't have been possible. They shouldn't have been able to find her!

Ogres were walking through the dark passage that led out into the open field in front of her house. Soldiers. The Army General. The King. The King of the Ogres was here with his general and eighteen loyal soldiers. How did he find this place? Only another mage should have been able to find out where she was!

Unless... She tensed up. Had her magic slipped up? Yes, she had been using a lot here lately and had been stressed as of late, everything with the queen considered, but she had thought she had more control! Had she really been that out of sync with her own magic that she didn't even realize when the protective barriers she put up had faltered?!

Whatever had happened, it didn't matter now. They were here. The king was here! For his queen... He was here to take back Eclipse, to lock her up in his castle and abuse her for the rest of her life.

She had to protect her, even if it cost her life.

Enek stormed out of the kitchen and ran into the living room, startling poor Eclipse. The queen jumped up, recoiling back in fear when the madwoman approached her. She let out a small shriek, fear running through her when the ogress quickly picked her up and threw her over her shoulder. Oh Primus, no... It was bad enough she had to endure everything at night. She didn't want to be forced during the day as well!

"P-Put me down!" Eclipse shrieked. "L-Let me go!"

Enek wasn't listening, quickly bringing her to the far room in the way back. It was just a small storage closet, filled with nothing but boxes and chest and clothes and blankets. Definitely not a place for a queen, but she needed her to hide somewhere. And this was probably the one place they would look last, in case something happened to her. And perhaps Eclipse could find something in here to protect herself with if they did find her...

Eclipse let out a small cry as she pushed into the closet, stumbling over some boxes. Before she could gather her bearings, the door was promptly shut and locked, much to her horror. Quickly, she scrambled to her feet and started banging on the door.

"L-Let me out!" she screamed. "M-Miss Enek, pl-please! Let me out!"

"I-I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but please, just stay there. It's not safe-!"

"Let me out! Please!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I failed you-!"

They both stopped when she heard something shatter. Like glass... What on Earth-?! She was about to demand to know what was going on, but she could hear Enek's footsteps quickly running away back down the hall. Primus, what was going on? What had broken? What had gotten Enek so spooked?!

More glass broke.  Eclipse didn't know what was happening.  Was someone breaking in?  A thief?  No, wait, it couldn't-

"Spread out!"

"Eyes open!  Don't let anyone escape!"

"Check the corners!  Search room to room!"

"Keep your swords ready!"

Wait, that- Were those-!  The Royal Army?!

But before she could call out for them, scuffling and loud crashes started happening.

"What the hell's happening?"

"Get over there!"

"In the kitchen!"

More screaming.  Eclipse could also hear things being thrown around.

"Lugnut?!"

"Ser Lugnut, what are you-?"

Oh Primus... No, no, no!

Enek... that... she was using Lugnut to fight off the army.

...Now it made sense.  That was why she had Lugnut.  That was why she had kept him around even though Enek seemed to hate him so much.

He was her means of fighting back if Megatron came for her.  Lugnut was one of the best soldiers in her husband's army.  She had seen him training and beating three recruits on his own.  There was no way he would be taken down so easily.

Tears started to roll down her cheeks. Oh Primus... Enek was going to use Lugnut to kill everyone.  And then there would be no one to save her and she would be stuck here with that witch who would keep coming into her room every night and do that horrible thing to her.

"Lugnut!  Lugnut, stand down!"

Eclipse's body froze.  No.  No, it couldn't be...

"Damn it, that's an order Lugnut! Stand down!"

"Like hell I'm letting you take her again!"

Megatron had come to save her.  He came. He actually came-

"I am done playing games with you! Where is my wife?!"

"Far away from you where you'll never hurt her again!"

Eclipse tried to open the door. Damn it, she had to get to Megatron. Enek was going to kill him! She was going to kill her husband and everyone else and then lock her away somewhere else and never let her see anyone else again and then keep trying to convince her that she loved her over and over and over and over-

She had to get out of here!  She had to get out of here!

Eclipse stretched out her hands and fumbled her way around the clutter in the small closet. There had to be something... Anything she could use. Maybe a way to open the door. Or just to make a lot of noise to draw someone's attention away from the fighting. To make them notice her, trapped in the closet.

Her fingers brushed against a box. She quickly opened it up and moved her hands around inside of it, hoping to find something that could help her pick or break the lock. Nothing though. Just napkins and sheets.

She shoved it out of the way and felt around for another box. When she opened that one up, there were just toys inside. Why did Enek even have these?! She threw them out of the way, the box bouncing and scattering over the ground.

The fighting and yelling was getting worse. She could hear people shouting. Ordering Lugnut to stop, ordering the Enek to surrender... Her husband was out there. Fighting to bring her back. She couldn't just sit back and wait for him. She wasn't a child anymore; she had to do something to help, even if it was just getting out of this damned closet by herself!

The rest of the boxes were also just filled with useless junk and trinkets. Even when she went further into the back of the closet, just more and more silly and forgotten things. Clothes and blankets, some too small even for her, probably meant for ogre toddlers... Books and clocks and everything else she couldn't use. Damn it, why couldn't she just find anything she needed?!

Her foot bumped against an unopened and unlocked trunk. Quickly, she opened it up and moved her hands around inside out it. Just sheets at the top. But when she pressed down a bit, she felt something hard. And it wasn't the bottom of the trunk... Quickly, she threw the sheets onto the floor and felt around once more.

A handle. A handle to a... She slowly traced her hands up, flinching back when her fingers brushed against sharp metal. An axe. It was an axe... A smaller one. One she could actually pick up and hold...

Eclipse's eyes drifted back to the door. Did she even have the strength to break down the door? Could she actually use this? Yes, she could, but... She couldn't use this to defend herself if it came down to it. She would just end hurting herself, or worse, one of her rescuers or even her husband. She couldn't just-

"Argh!"

Her eyes widened and she froze. That voice...

"Your Majesty!"

"Megatron!"

Eclipse started to shake. Oh Primus... Oh Primus, her husband... Enek was hurting her husband. And all she was doing was sitting here, helpless and useless and allowing her husband to be hurt by that madwoman.

Forcing her shakes to stop, she picked up the axe. It was a little heavier than she thought, but she forced her to carry it over to the door. She had to break it down. She had to get out of here! With all the strength she could muster, she lifted it up before swinging it down hard onto the floor. She was only able to break a small part of the wood off. She did it again. And again. And again.

No one seemed to hear her though. Not that she was surprised. She could hear more fighting and yelling, which was getting louder and louder. Were they getting closer to her? Were her husband and friends all right?!

She threw down the axe again, gasping when light from the hallway suddenly broke through. She pulled the axe back and let it fall the floor, seeing that she had made a hole big enough to fit her arm through. And the screams from everyone else was even louder than before.

"Release my queen! Now!"

"I would rather die!"

There was more swords clanging. Glass shattering. Things were being knocked over. Another yell, followed by a grunt, rang out from the hallway.

"Damn it - Lugnut, stand down!"

"That isn't fucking working!"

More swords clanged together. More swearing and cursing followed. Right, she should have figured that her husband would bring along Bloodshed and Strika... They were the only ones capable of fighting off Lugnut. Not that Megatron knew that his own guard would be used as a weapon against them.

Quickly, she shoved her hand out of the hole and felt around for the door handle. All she had to do was unlock it and-!

"Argh!"

"Bloodshed!"

She heard another sword be drawn. Oh Primus, how many people had Lugnut been forced to hurt? To kill? And her husband... How bad was he hurt? What was that woman doing to them?!

She finally found the door handle, finally unlocking it and opening the door.

"Fucking... shit!"

"What do we do?"

"Try to get around her!"

"Get back!  Get back, you monsters!"

"She's heading for the living room!"

"Don't let that bitch escape!"

Megatron was still alive.  But who knows for how long?

Eclipse opened the door and quickly got out into the living room.  She wasn't sure whether to drop the ax and run when she heard scuffling coming from the opening to the kitchen area.

"Stay back!  Stay back!"

"Ma'am, you're outnumbered." Bombrush's voice came through the tense air.  "We know the Queen is here.  Please, just surrender and we can talk this out."

"Like I would believe you! You already killed all others like me long ago!"

"This bitch is already crazy! Just fucking kill her!"

"But we don't know what'll happen to Lugnut if we do!"

"You damn bitch... I should have had you and your mother killed when I had the chance!"

"That was your greatest mistake after overthrowing your father, King Galvatron!  But it gave me the chance to protect the Queen from your tyrannical hands!"

"What the hell is wrong with her?"

"She is my wife!"

"She was nothing but your whore, you vile beast!"

Eclipse held the axe close to her as she approached the kitchen.  Was Enek still there? Or where the guards there?

Then she saw Enek's back slowly walking back into the living room.

"You know nothing, you fucking cunt!"

"I know more than you.  I know her better than you.  I actually love her!  I care for her being more than you ever could!"

Eclipse felt sick to her stomach again. No... No, all lies. Nothing but lies Enek tried to feed both her and herself. And while Enek may have believed such things, Eclipse would never. Megatron loved her. Her husband cared for her. This woman, this... monster, didn't know how to do anything of that.

She only knew how to push her down onto the sheets and raped her until she could no longer find the will to plead with the ogress to stop.

Eclipse gasped when she saw Lugnut stand in front of Enek, body covered in blood. Oh Primus, she had been right... Enek had made him kill his fellow soldiers, his comrades...

"You fucking witch-!"

"You'll have to kill the guard first!" Enek shrieked. "Then... Then you'll have to kill me. B-But I won't let you! I won't let you hurt the queen anymore! She's mine now, you filthy animal!"

Eclipse found her hands starting to shake. She... was not Enek's. She didn't belong to her. She belonged... to no one. She was the Queen of the Ogres. She chose Megatron, who had saved her from being some random king's toy... It was because she chose him that she was a person, not someone's pretty little breeding cow who was destined to be trapped in someone else's castle until she died. She chose to go with Megatron, to live with him... To be free and live as a person. As his queen.

Eclipse found herself moving forward, gripping the axe tightly. No one seemed to notice her, too focused on Lugnut and the witch. The witch who kept her trapped here... Who treated her like a toy. A doll that she could fuck. That she could teach to love her. That she could control.

No... No, she wouldn't go back to that. She wouldn't let herself lose her life to this monster!

"Ma'am, just give up!" Bombrush ordered, moving himself in front of the king. "If you surrender now, we can-!"

"Get back, you savages!"

Lugnut lunged forward, knocking Bombrush to the ground and forcing the sword from his hand. Eclipse watched in horror as Strika, Novabomb, and Nebula had to try and wrestle the great warrior off of the general, but struggled to do so. Then Enek turned to Megatron, both of them glaring murderously at each other. He had both of his swords drawn and Eclipse could see Enek was getting ready to cast a spell.

Not her husband. She wouldn't lose her husband!

"Give me back my wife, you insufferable witch!"

"You'll never see her again... You'll never find her. I won't let you... I won't let you hurt her anymore! She's finally safe! She's starting to understand what love really is! Because I taught her! Because I love her! And I won't let her be forced back into your pathetic hands, you vile bastard-!"

A sharp pain suddenly erupted from the back of her head, causing her voice to catch in her throat. She froze up, entire body seizing in pain. But it ended as quickly as it started. Something wet started trickling down her hair... then it started to grow wetter and wetter. And it was warm...

The pain was still there, but it was becoming less and less now. She was starting to lose feeling in her legs. Slowly, she reached up with a hand to touch where the pain came from. Something sharp was... into her skin. And when she pulled back her hand, her fingers were caked with blood.

"H-How...?"

Unbeknownst to Enek, Eclipse had somehow managed to find the strength and speed to charge, running around the corner that hid her from the other's eyes to bring the axe, now so light and easy to grasp, up far over her head before she brought it down on the witch's head with a loud thwack.

Eclipse's narrow vision finally settled when the first splatters of blood hit her face.  Then she began to see the world more clearly.

Lugnut's body freezing up, Bombrush pulling shaky hands off his neck, Nebula and Novabomb, hands grasping Lugnut's arms, gob smacked and staring at her.  Strika behind them, eyes wide open with her hands covering her mouth.  Bloodshed staring at her from the counter where he had been thrown against.  All the soldiers around them, some hurt, others dropping their swords...

And Megatron.

Her dear husband, blood staining his side and from a wound on his head, looking at her as if she were a ghost. His swords shaking in his hands, blood staining the grip as her eyes finally caught his.

"... Eclipse?"

His voice broke the trance she was in, her hands slowly releasing the grip of the axe.

Enek stumbled forward, her fatigue and pain slowly fading.  With what little strength she had, she started to turn to look behind her when her body began to give out and fall back.

She could see the Queen.  Her purple eyes wide and wild, tears pouring down from them with blood, her blood, on her face. Why? Why had she...? Had she just made a mistake? Had she meant to hit her husband but hit her instead? It must have been an accident... Yes, an accident...

But now she wouldn't be able to protect her. She wouldn't be able to... to...

Enek's body finally fell to the floor, blood pouring out of her head and onto the carpet. She didn't move. She didn't speak. She just lied there, motionless. Lifeless. Dead.

It was as if Enek's corpse hitting the ground was a signal going off.  Suddenly, Lugnut had collapsed onto his side, nearly crushing Nebula, as he shook and panted and gasped and mumbled out incoherent words.   Eclipse's hands went to her head as she screamed. Screamed and screamed and screamed as tears fell without abandon from her eyes.

Megatron dropped his swords, running over to his hysterical wife as she slowly started to fall to the floor. He wrapped his arms tightly around her shaking body, one hand reaching up to cup the back of her head.

"Eclipse... Eclipse, Eclipse, oh Primus-" He held her close as he ignored the screaming in his ear. "I'm here, I'm here. You're safe.  I won't let her hurt you anymore."

Eclipse's screaming began to soften, but her throat was just so sore and dry and achy that it was hard to keep screaming.

"I won't let anyone take you from me again. I'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe Eclipse."

Megatron kept whispering her name as her screams finally died out into aching, pained sobs.  Lugnut was no better, almost unresponsive to anyone's calling or touches.  They had to push him up to sit with their combined strength to get a good look at him.

But despite the madness that had beset their loved ones, it was finally over.


	19. Chapter 19

Eclipse and Lugnut had been brought to the castle shortly after their rescue. While Hook tended to the wounded soldiers from the rescue party, Megatron had Red Alert tend to Eclipse while Knock Out and Breakdown were made to monitor Lugnut. As much as he wanted to stay by his wife's side and possibly get some answers out of Lugnut once he was coherent, he had to announce to the public his wife had been found and that the person responsible - a single mage, most likely insane - had been killed.

Primus... Eclipse had passed out in his arms earlier, tiring herself out from weeping so hard. But even as she rested, she clung to him, gripping his clothes and refusing to let go. She sobbed in her sleep every now and then, shivering and pressing into his body.

Lugnut hadn't been much better. He started to cry once he seemed to collect his bearings. He continuously whimpered out apologies, weeping into his hands like an overgrown child. He begged for forgiveness, murmuring about how he couldn't stop her. How he didn't want to hurt anyone. How she made him...

He was on his way back from meeting with his council. Some were still upset that he had "abandoned" his duties for so long, but they too were glad that the queen and her guard had both been found alive. Though no one dared to say "alive and well" because the two were clearly not well.

That was probably why Shockwave had told him he should return to his wife. He would attend to the smaller matters and would only call for him if he needed his approval for anything. 

He didn't know how bad it was, but with everything that had been happening on the way back, Megatron wasn't sure.

"Megatron."

The King looked up to see his General waiting for him, bandages and a splint wrapped around his neck as his voice came out cracked and sore.

"How's your throat?"

"Alright," he whispered. "Nothing's broken, thankfully, but there might be damage to my vocal cords."

"Will it heal?"

"If I don't strain them too much, then yeah."

"Then shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm giving you a quick update before you go see Eclipse."

They stopped outside Red Alert's infirmary, mostly because Megatron had stopped.  "Explain."

"Short answer: Eclipse is hurt. Physically and emotionally. Red will give you a more thorough report... And don't hurt her.  She's- It... It isn't good."

Megatron didn't want to know, but there was a horrible feeling that had been hanging over his head when they had listened to Lugnut's raving ranting on the way back.  He had hoped, but it might be...

"Lugnut has been sedated. He wouldn't stop rocking and mumbling, but when he started to claw at his eyes, Knock Out had to put him under for his own safety.  They compared notes from what he said with Red and there's... The witch did something to them."

That was all he wanted to hear. "Red will tell me the rest?"

Bombrush nodded.

"Good.  You're dismissed.  Go rest your throat."

The general nodded, but didn't leave. But he didn't follow Megatron in either. Probably waiting around in case he did attacked Red over the news.

This wasn't good at all.

"Y-Your Majesty." The human doctor bowed to him before a hand reached out to grab her arm through a cover.

"R-Red... Red, who's-?"

"It's just your husband, My- Eclipse. It's only King Megatron."

A small keen fell from his wife's lips, but the hand didn't let go.

"I-I need to speak with him for just a moment-"

"Please... Please don't-"

"I'll be in the room. I'm just going to speak with King Megatron.  I'll be right over there."

Megatron could only watch in dreaded fear as Red had to console his wife's grip off of her arm and reassure her multiple times before she could get up to come see him.  He had wanted to rush to Eclipse's side, but Shockwave had been the one to warn him about doing so.

There was no telling what Eclipse would do if she was overwhelmed.

"My... Sir," she whispered to him, once they had moved far enough away from the bed his wife was resting on.

"My wife?"

"... She..." Red hesitated for a moment, looking back at bed, the curtains closed to keep anyone from peering inside. "... She isn't well."

"I'm aware."

Right... King Megatron wasn't in the mood for dancing around the subject right now. Not that he was ever in the mood for that, but when his wife was concerned? Stalling would just get her beaten. Still, how was she supposed to tell him all of this?! She had Knock Out's notes with her and they had drawn a conclusion as to what happened, but they didn't want it to sound like it was a confirmed thing... Still, there was evidence. Overwhelming evidence.

She wished she didn't have explain it to him alone.

Taking a deep breath, she murmured softly, "My Lord... Lady Eclipse is clearly... traumatized. If we address her by anything other than her name, she will start to shake and cry uncontrollably. The handmaids in here early kept calling her by her title and... She had a minor panic attack and went into hysterics."

Megatron's hands tightened into fists, but he remained silent.

"... She also becomes frightened when she is left by herself for too long. Or at all. I left for only a minute, so I didn't say anything. But when I returned, she was crying. I believe that it isn't wise to leave Lady Eclipse unattended. In her hysteria, I fear she may do something... drastic."

The Ogre King gritted his teeth. Damn it... Just what had that witch done to his wife?! Whatever she had done to physically hurt her... Now she was mentally scarred. As was Lugnut. They were both traumatized by whatever the witch had done to them.

And supposedly, Red and Knock Out knew what.

With his throat dry, he forced himself to ask, "And what of the physical harm?"

Red couldn't answer right away. There was no easy way to tell His Majesty this. And she didn't want to be killed for being the one to tell him what had happened. Strika wasn't here to protect her. Eclipse wasn't mentally capable enough to stop her husband if he went on a rampage.

But she had to tell him. She had to tell him the truth.

"... Her Majesty was... assaulted."

"... What?"

"... Lady Eclipse was... has suffered from vaginal tearing, Your Highness." 

It took the King a second to register the words. Tearing... suffered... her-

"My wife..." He started slowly before he managed to get the words out.  "She's been-"

He turned back to the covered bed. Eclipse... forced? Raped?  But-!  But that was impossible! From the reports still coming in from the scouts searching the area where Eclipse and Lugnut had been kept, that witch was the only one who had been in that house.

But the tearing... raped, forced, against her will... that could only mean... 

"...My guard?... Did... He?"

"... From what we could tell, it seems... in the physical sense, yes he did."

Megatron would have been unable to stop himself from running to Knock Out's room and murdering his guard if it hadn't been for that last part the human nurse had said.

"...Physical?  But... You just said-"

"Ser Lugnut was involved, but from what Doctor Knock Out and Ser Breakdown could get out of him, it seems that he too was also a victim."

A.. victim?  What he fuck?  By process of elimination, he was the only one who could have caused such injuries to his wife? What the fuck did she mean he was a victim as well?  It wasn't as if Lugnut couldn't fight off the witch from holding a knife to his neck and force him to... rape... Eclipse...

Unless... She was a witch.  It wasn't impossible.

"...What did Knock Out find out about Lugnut?"

Red Alert took a deep breath in before looking down at the notes to get it right.  "Besides traumatized, malnourished, and a bit unstable, Lugnut also appears to be under extreme duress.  Knock Out says he's seen similar from victims who were forced to do heinous things. He mentioned the Overlord incident?"

Megatron knew what that was.  He didn't like remembering all the details of it, but many of Overlord's co-conspirators had been found to have also been his victims, forced to help him torture and brutalize other victims to avoid the same to them. Forced by Overlord's will to do his bidding to avoid a fate worse than death.

"Doctor Knock Out wrote that from what testimony Lugnut spoke of before they had to sedate him, he said he was... 'unable to control his own body'.  That at times, he was forced to watch his own body move by the witch's command. And time that... she went inside of him.

Inside?  Wait, was he talking about possession?

"When they followed up on this talk of 'the witch being inside of him', Novabomb did note that his mother had mentioned magical abilities that could... allow someone to control another living being."

Megatron didn't say anything for the longest time, still trying to wrap his mind around everything. Eclipsed... had been hurt. Physically. She had been... raped. By... Lugnut. Who was being possessed by the witch. And the witch used his body to... hurt Eclipse. And Lugnut could see the entire thing. He just couldn't stop it.

That was why he was such a hysterical mess... Why he had been crying his eyes out, like some sort of small, defenseless child. And Eclipse. His precious wife... had been assaulted by the witch. Who used her friend's body to hurt her. To molest her. To defile her. All because this crazed woman claimed to... love her.

His hands balled into fists. Red Alert swallowed, inching back in fear. To claim his majesty was angry was an understatement. She had only seen him like this once, when she and the other humans had been brought before him to be judged. Where he thought they were spies, intending to find a way to take his wife back to her parents. Primus, she surely thought she would have died that day had the Queen not run into the room to have them spared...

But she always remembered his rage. The lust for blood boiling in his eyes. He had wanted to kill them back then... And now that same look was in his eyes. She feared he would turn on her and kill her in a heated frenzy.

He didn't though, taking deep breaths to calm himself down as his eyes looked behind her. Right... the healer glanced over her shoulder at the bed. It was because the queen was here. If she wasn't, Red Alert highly doubted Megatron would have remained so calm. At least she would be able to live for another day.

"... So the witch possessed Lugnut to... assault my wife?"

"That... is what we could gather, Your Majesty," she said, bowing her head. "Lady Eclipse wouldn't say what happened when asked and it felt unwise to push her for answers. And Lugnut... The questioning only sent him into hysterics."

"Where is he now?"

"Resting under extreme supervision in Doctor Knock Out's office... He has also been restrained, for his own protection." Red Alert hesitated for a moment before asking, "Did you want to... speak with him?"

"No." Megatron moved past her, the poor woman having to step out of the way unless she wanted to be run over. "Leave. I want to be with my wife. Alone." 

"... Yes, of course."

The doctor quickly bowed and darted out of the room, closing the door behind her. Megatron just stood there for a few moments, staring at his wife's bed. Primus... His wife... She had been hurt. He had failed to protect her and allowed such a barbaric thing to happen to him. He... failed. He failed and Eclipse suffered because of it.

He should have been the one to murder that fucking witch. Instead... Instead, his wife did. She had to save herself. And now, not only did she have the painful memory of being forced by such a monster, but also she had blood on her hands. And she would never be able to wash it out either.

Slowly, he touched the curtain and pulled it back, causing the poor queen behind it to jump and turn to him.

"Eclipse?"

"Megatron," Eclipse let the blankets fall from her shoulders before clambering into his arms.  "Oh Megatron... You're here."

"Yes... I'm sorry, I had to speak with my advisors."

"No, no, it's okay.  Y-You're the king, you have to do your duty."

Eclipse... seemed normal.  But this... she was far too apprehensive. It reminded him of when he first brought her here five years ago... but somehow worse. Somehow even more soft-spoken. Anxious. She shuffled in his arms, her fingers twitching against his clothes.

"...No, I... Eclipse, I should have come to see you first before that.  You were hurt and-"

"No, no, I understand." Eclipse reached around him to hug him, "I'm fine.  You're here now, so it's all okay now."

Megatron was a bit off guard with the seemingly affectionate actions of his wife, but his mind began to make a more logical sense of what was happening.

She had been with that witch for so long, suffering unimaginable at the madwoman’s hands these past two weeks. She just... She wanted to be protected. She wanted someone to hold her, to make it seem like she really was safe... And he, her husband, was the one who could make her feel that way.

Gently, he lifted the woman up and set her down on his lap. Primus... she felt so light. Lighter than usual. She was much thinner... Had the witch attempted to starve her? Force her to beg for food? Or force her to have sex with her in exchange for food? He couldn't ask. He didn't want to send her into hysterics by making her remember... and he didn't want to know either.

Still he hugged her tighter, much to Eclipse's surprise.

"M-Megatron...?"

"I..." Primus, how he wanted to tell her how much he loved her.  How he feared he would never see her again.  That they would never find them no matter how far and how long they looked for them. Or that they would leave her corpse, naked and tortured and brutalized, for him to find.

But he couldn't tell her that. No, no matter what he wanted to do to show her just how much she meant to him, just how scared he was of losing her, he couldn't.  Eclipse needed a brave, strong husband to hold her through this long period of recovery.

If she ever did.

Hopefully... this wouldn't be too much for her, would it?

"Eclipse..." He reached into his pocket to grab the wedding ring he had not let go of ever since it was brought to him. "I have... something of yours."

"Hmm?"  Eclipse looked up at him before looking down at his hand that held her wedding ring.  "My-! My ring... I thought it was destroyed with my dress."

"Novabomb found it.  It was... not far from where you disappeared."

Megatron gently took her left hand and slipped the ring back onto her finger. And when he let go, she held her hands to her chest, her right hand clamping over her left one and the ring. Primus... She thought the witch had taken it... She had burned her dress, so why wouldn't she have burned the ring?

At least that had been saved... She was glad that her ring hadn't been lost...

Megatron's eyes widened when he heard her start to sob again. "Eclipse?"

She just cried, clinging to him like a small child. Why? Why did this have to happen? If she had only listened to Lugnut... He had warned her to leave the woman be. To just continue their way towards the castle. If she had just listened, none of this would have happened to either of them...

Megatron hugged her tightly, running his fingers through her hair and gently shushing her. "It's all right, Eclipse," he murmured softly. "I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you again. I'll protect you... I swear, I'll protect you."

Making such a promise made his stomach turn. He had already made that promise before. When he had first brought her here. When he had asked her to marry him. When he said his wedding vows. He had always promised to protect her...

And he failed. He failed to protect her and now... and now...

All he could do was hold her. Hug her tightly and whisper the same thing over and over again in an attempt to calm her down. Damn it, there was so much he wanted to do, to say, but... with the way Eclipse was now, he couldn't. He would just be some insensitive sick monster if he tried. He had to be her rock, to comfort her...

Would it always be like this? Lugnut was a traumatized mess and Eclipse... His precious wife was just so broken. He feared she would always be like this... Always cling to him and cry and never be the same again.

All because he failed to protect her.

Gently, he laid her down on the bed and crawled next to her, making sure he kept his arms securely wrapped around her. Her sobs had grown softer now and all she could do was hold him, trembling a bit in his grip. Her hands were crawling into his shirts, as if she were afraid to let go, afraid that if she did, she would be alone. Or worse, back at the witch's house.

"I won't leave," he murmured softly. "Just rest... I'll be here when you wake up."

She gave another soft whimper. All he did was continue to run his fingers through her hair, kissing her head every now and then. Soon, her tears stopped and she fell into a quiet, peaceful slumber. 

Megatron feared it would probably the only time she would be at peace for a long while.


End file.
